The High Court has just imposed the first penalty on an overseas person for leasing land without Overseas Investment Office consent. Regulation of commercial leasing is an area of the overseas investment regime that receives considerably less attention than its freehold counterpart. However, the lease of sensitive land for more than 3 years will be captured by the Overseas Investment Act 2005 (Act), and require consent, where the tenant is an overseas person.

In Volume 4 of The Property Lawyer, Real Estate partner, Michelle Hill and Law Graduate, Gabriel Stewart-Murray, unpack the recent High Court decision of The Chief Executive of Land Information New Zealand v Bin Zhao [2021] NZHC 857, and shed light on the Court's application of the penalty frame-work in the context of commercial leasing.

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This article was first published in May 2021 in Volume 4 of The Property Lawyer.