Pānui - 2 February 2026 special edition

Kia ora koutou

The Government has decided that the reforms of the Overseas Investment Act will come into effect on Friday 6 March 2026.

The reforms include:

• consolidating the national interest, benefit to New Zealand, and investor tests into a single test for all assets other than farmland, fishing quota, and residential land.
• allowing certain investor visa holders to apply for consent to buy or build a house worth more than $5million, and
• revising the Act's purpose statement to explicitly acknowledge the role of overseas investment in increasing economic opportunity.

LINZ will be implementing a streamlined primary consent pathway for investments under the new test, along with new and updated conditions of consent.

While the statutory timeframe for the new pathways will be 15 working days, LINZ will aim to assess most applications under the new pathways within five working days.

Further information on implementation will be made available over the coming weeks. This will include:

• Updated application form
• Primary Consent Standard Conditions
• Production Forestry Standard and Special Conditions
• Updated Production Forestry Investment Plan

The current rules continue to apply until the new provisions come into effect.

Ngā Hui Whakamārama

We will be holding a Ngā Hui Whakamārama session on the changes to the Overseas Investment Act and how we plan to interpret and apply them on 25 February from 10:30 to 12:00.

These sessions are technical in nature and designed specifically for lawyers who regularly advise overseas investors. You will have received an invitation to the hui if you've attended a previous one.

Further information

The Overseas Investment (National Interest Test and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2025 is available on the Legislation website:
Overseas Investment (National Interest Test and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2025

Information on the reforms will continue to be made available at:
Reform of the Overseas Investment Act

An information resource on the provisions allowing investor class visa holders to buy or build a house worth more than $5million is available at:
Overseas investment factsheets