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Local Government (Rating) Act 2002

Assessment, payment, and recovery of rates and remission, postponement, and write-off of rates - Assessment, payment, and recovery - Abandoned land

77: Sale or lease of abandoned land

You could also call this:

"What happens to land when the owner stops paying rates and abandons it"

Illustration for Local Government (Rating) Act 2002

If you own a piece of land and you haven't paid rates on it for three years or more, it can be considered abandoned land. This happens when the local authority can't find you, you've died and have no one to represent you, or you've told them you're abandoning the land. You might see a public notice saying the local authority wants to declare the land abandoned and sell or lease it. The local authority can then ask the District Court to make an order that says the land is abandoned and they can sell or lease it, and they have to show that the land is not a certain type of land, as described in section 62A(1)(a) and (b).

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM132741.

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Housing and property > Land useGovernment and voting > Local councils
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"What happens to leftover money after a property is sold to pay unpaid rates and levies?"

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78: Court may order sale or lease of abandoned land, or

"Court can sell or lease land if it's been abandoned by its owner"

Part 3Assessment, payment, and recovery of rates and remission, postponement, and write-off of rates
Assessment, payment, and recovery: Abandoned land

77Sale or lease of abandoned land

  1. In this section and sections 78 to 81, abandoned land means a rating unit for which the rates have not been paid to the local authority for 3 years or more, and the ratepayer for that land—

  2. is unknown; or
    1. cannot be found after due inquiry and has no known agent in New Zealand; or
      1. is deceased and has no personal representative; or
        1. has given notice to the local authority that he or she intends to abandon or has abandoned the land.

          1. A local authority may, at any time, give public notice in the locality of the land that the local authority intends—

          2. to have the land declared abandoned 1 month after the date of the notice; and
            1. to sell or lease the land.

              1. One month after the date of the public notice, the local authority may apply to the District Court nearest to where the land is situated for an order that—

              2. declares the land to be abandoned; and
                1. authorises the local authority to sell or lease the land.

                  1. The application must include evidence that the land is not land described in section 62A(1)(a) and (b).

                  2. The District Court may direct the local authority to give notice of the application to any persons, as it thinks fit, in addition to the rules for service under the District Court Rules.

                  3. The local authority may, in its discretion, proceed under section 67 to sell or lease abandoned land if the requirements of that section are met.

                  4. For the purposes of this section, due inquiry includes, but is not limited to, inquiry of any public agency that holds land records.

                  Notes
                  • Section 77(3A): inserted, on , by section 38 of the Local Government (Rating of Whenua Māori) Amendment Act 2021 (2021 No 12).