LINZ Annual Report 2025/26: what the overseas investment numbers mean for investors
Overseas investors in New Zealand are seeing faster consent decisions following the March 2026 reforms to the overseas investment regime.
The latest figures from Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand (LINZ), covering the year ended 30 June 2026, show the early impact of the new primary consent pathway and other changes introduced on 6 March 2026. Below we look at the key figures and what they mean for investors considering transactions in New Zealand.
Headline numbers
In 2025/26, 701 overseas investment applications were approved, with a total value of around $24 billion. Twenty-one of those applications involved a national interest assessment. By type, the approvals were:
- 451 One Home to Live In (OHTLI) consents, about 64% of the total.
- 172 other consents, covering residential, forestry, sensitive land, significant business assets and home to live in applications by non-individuals such as trusts, about 25%.
- 42 variations of conditions or consents, about 6%.
- 36 exemptions, about 5%.
The top three industries by number of non-OHTLI consent applications were forestry and logging, accommodation, and electricity supply.
Processing times
The Ministerial expectation is that 80% of applications in each category are assessed within half of their statutory timeframe. For OHTLI, that is 10 working days for residential land and 30 working days for land that is also otherwise sensitive. For other pathways, it ranges from 15 working days for the new primary consent pathway, to 200 working days for fishing quota. LINZ met both targets:
- OHTLI applications, 100% within half the timeframe, being all 451 of 451, the same as 2024/25.
- Other pathway applications, 86% within half the timeframe, being 148 of 172, down slightly from 87% in 2024/25.
LINZ reports that over 94% of assessments in the year were completed in five working days or less.
Effect of the March 2026 reforms
The Overseas Investment Amendment Act came into effect on 6 March 2026 (see here for our earlier article on the reforms). It introduced a primary consent pathway for all business and some land decisions, including production forestry, and a new $5 million plus house pathway for qualifying investor visa holders. Ministers also delegated to LINZ all decisions that can be statutorily delegated.
For business and forestry applications without a full national interest assessment, end to end timeframes dropped from 28 working days before 6 March to eight working days after, and regulator time from 15 working days to five.
Primary pathway investments unlikely to raise national interest concerns are generally consented within five working days.
By 30 June 2026, LINZ had issued 20 consents to investor visa holders to buy properties in Auckland, Central Otago, Waikato and Hawke’s Bay.
Monitoring and enforcement
The monitoring and enforcement figures are a reminder that consent conditions are actively checked. LINZ identifies possible breaches through self-reporting, third-party notifications and its own proactive monitoring. Its enforcement tools range from compliance letters and administrative penalties for inadvertent or less serious non-compliance, through to civil or criminal proceedings for the most serious cases.
In 2025/26:
- OHTLI monitoring activities: 636 of 652 (97.5%) processed within 10 working days.
- Other pathway monitoring issues: 343 of 391 (87.8%) processed within 20 working days.
- Possible breach incidents: 140 of 143 (97.9%) triaged within 10 working days.
- Enforcement actions: 56 taken against a target of at least 40, down from 79 in 2024/25, which LINZ attributes to a risk-based review of long-running investigations that closed many low-priority cases. Aged cases have reduced by 91% over two years.
- Proactive monitoring regimes: 27 investments, ahead of the target of at least 24 and up from 25 in 2024/25.
Practical points – what this means for you
Clients can expect most consent applications, especially business and forestry deals on the primary pathway, to be decided within days rather than weeks. Applications needing a national interest assessment, and other pathway applications generally, still carry more timing risk, as 24 of the 172 other consents fell outside half the timeframe. LINZ continues to encourage early engagement on unusual or difficult cases.
How we can help
Our Overseas Investment team regularly advises on overseas investment consents and ongoing compliance. If you are planning an investment, or have questions about an existing consent, please get in touch with Oliver Roberts or Nina Sidhu.
