Foreign housebuyer ban Bill becomes law

WELLINGTON: Nearly all foreigners have been banned from buying most New Zealand houses in a bid to crack down on overseas speculators.

Government legislation — the Overseas Investment Amendment Bill — passed its final hurdle to become law last night.

It had the support of Labour, New Zealand First and the Greens.

Associate Finance Minister David Parker told Parliament the move brought the country closer to restoring the ‘‘great New Zealand dream of home ownership’’.

New Zealanders had a ‘‘birthright’’ to buy homes in a market shaped by Kiwis, he said.

‘‘If you’ve got the right to live in New Zealand permanently, you’ve got the right to buy here,’’ Mr Parker said.

‘‘But otherwise, it’s not a right. It’s a privilege.’’

International buyers were driving up house prices in some areas.

‘‘There can be a debate as to how much the effect is on price. There can be no doubt that there is an effect.’’

The legislation was tweaked on its way to becoming law to still allow foreigners to buy new apartments in multistorey developments.

Australian and Singapore citizens will also be exempt from the ban because of their countries’ free trade deals with New Zealand.

National housing spokeswoman Judith Collins said the legislation was nothing more than an attempt to justify some of the Government’s policies and decisions.

She said the Bill would never have gone ahead under former Labour prime ministers Helen Clark or David Lange.

‘‘David Lange would have been turning in his grave. He would’ve been appalled at people who attacked someone else just on the basis of their name.’’

Foreign ownership has attracted criticism in recent years, though official figures suggest the overall level of foreign home buying was relatively low — about 3% of property transfers nationwide.

However, the data did not capture property bought through trusts and also showed property transfers involving foreigners was concentrated in areas such as inner Auckland and Queenstown.