Overseas investors told to sell
Overseas investors who bought three large chunks of land in Twizel have been ordered to sell because they didn’t get permission from the Overseas Investment Office to buy it.
Their failure to seek permission was due to inaccurate legal advice, the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) said.
Vanessa Horne, group manager for the OIO, said the group of overseas investors bought the three properties, which totalled 327 hectares, between 2014 and 2017.
‘‘The buyers should have sought consent from the OIO as the land is considered sensitive under the Overseas Investment Act,’’ she said.
The land is sensitive because it is rural and each property is greater than five hectares.
‘‘The OIO investigated the purchase of the land and found the investors bypassed our overseas investment rules due to incorrect legal advice,’’ Horne said.
‘‘We recognise this was an inadvertent mistake on their part and in December 2018 the OIO reached a settlement agreement with the investors.’’
The settlement agreement required the investors to dispose of two of the properties.
These were 61.46ha at the
Junction of State Highway 8 (Tekapo-Twizel Rd) and State Highway 80; and 246.19ha at Tekapo-Twizel Highway.
Horne said that in March 2019, as part of the agreement, the investors applied to the OIO for a retrospective consent to retain ownership of 19ha at 4587 and 4589 State Highway 8, TekapoTwizel Rd.
‘‘The applicant bought the land in 2015 and did not start any development – it had proposed building an observatory, wedding chapel and subdividing 60 to 80 residential lots for holiday homes.
‘‘On 8 January 2020, the OIO declined the application for a retrospective consent. We were not satisfied the benefit to New Zealand would be substantial and identifiable.
‘‘The OIO had concerns about the applicants’ business plan, their ability to successfully implement the proposed developments, given the lack of progress, and their consideration of how the developments would be undertaken or operated in practice,’’ said Horne.
‘‘The OIO will continue to take action against investors that don’t comply with their obligations under the Overseas Investment Act.’’
‘‘We were not satisfied the benefit to New Zealand would be substantial and identifiable.’’ Vanessa Horne Overseas Investment Office