Local Government (Rating) Act 2002

Amendments, savings, repeals of other enactments, and transitional provisions

Schedule 1: Categories of non-rateable land

You could also call this:

"Land that doesn't have to pay rates, like parks and churches"

Illustration for Local Government (Rating) Act 2002

The Local Government (Rating) Act 2002 has rules about land that does not have to pay rates. You need to know what kinds of land are exempt. Land that is part of a National Park, a reserve, or a conservation area does not have to pay rates. Land used for certain purposes, like a place of religious worship or a cemetery, is also exempt. Some land owned by the government, like roads and airports, does not have to pay rates either.

There are also rules about land that is only partly exempt from paying rates. For example, land used for games or sports, or for artistic purposes, might only have to pay half of the usual rates. It's worth noting that some of these rules have changed over time, so it's a good idea to check the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002 for the most up-to-date information.

You can find more information about the different types of exempt land in Part 1 and Part 2 of the schedule. These parts explain what kinds of land are fully or partly exempt from paying rates, and why. They also provide more details about the rules and exceptions that apply to each type of land.

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This page was last updated on 10 September 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM133512.

Topics:

Government and voting > Local councilsHousing and property > Land useEnvironment and resources > Conservation

Schedule 1AA: Transitional, savings, and related provisions, or

"Special rules for local councils about collecting rates and providing services"

Schedule 2: Matters that may be used to define categories of rateable land, or

"Things that help decide how much rates you pay on land"

1Categories of non-rateable land Empowered by s 8

Part 1Land fully non-rateable

1

Land forming part of—

a National Park under the National Parks Act 1980:

a reserve under the Reserves Act 1977:

a conservation area under the Conservation Act 1987:

a wildlife management reserve, wildlife refuge, or wildlife sanctuary under the Wildlife Act 1953.

1A

Land that is subject to a Ngā Whenua Rāhui kawenata under section 77A of the Reserves Act 1977 or section 27A of the Conservation Act 1987.

Notes

Schedule 1 Part 1 clause 1A: inserted, on 1 July 2021, by section 52(1) of the Local Government (Rating of Whenua Māori) Amendment Act 2021 (2021 No 12).

2

Land vested in the Crown and forming part of—

a flood ponding area:

the bed of any navigable lake or navigable river.

Notes

Schedule 1 Part 1 clause 2(b): repealed, on 1 April 2011, by section 128 of the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011 (2011 No 3).
Schedule 1 Part 1 clause 2(c): repealed, on 1 April 2011, by section 128 of the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011 (2011 No 3).

3

Land that is—

owned by a society or association of persons (whether incorporated or not); and

used for conservation or preservation purposes; and

not used for private pecuniary profit; and

able to be accessed by the general public.

4

Land used by a local authority—

for a public garden, reserve, or children’s playground:

for games and sports (except galloping races, harness races, or greyhound races):

for a public hall, library, athenaeum, museum, art gallery, or other similar institution:

for public baths, swimming baths, bathhouses, or sanitary conveniences:

for soil conservation and rivers control purposes, being land for which no revenue is received.

5

Land owned or used by, and for the purposes of,—

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga:

the Queen Elizabeth the Second National Trust:

the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa Board:

the charitable trust known as Children’s Health Camps—The New Zealand Foundation for Child and Family Health and Development:

the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind, except as an endowment.

Notes

Schedule 1 Part 1 clause 5(a): replaced, on 20 May 2014, by section 107 of the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act 2014 (2014 No 26).
Schedule 1 Part 1 clause 5(e): amended, on 30 April 2003, by section 28(1) of the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind Act 2002 (2002 No 3 (P)).

6

Land owned or used by, and for the purposes of, any of the following as defined in section 10(1) of the Education and Training Act 2020:

a State school:

a State integrated school:

a specialist school:

a special institution:

an early childhood education and care centre, except an early childhood education and care centre that operates for profit:

a private school, except a registered school that operates for profit:

a charter school, except a charter school that operates for profit:

an institution.

Notes

Schedule 1 Part 1 clause 6: replaced, on 1 August 2020, by section 668 of the Education and Training Act 2020 (2020 No 38).
Schedule 1 Part 1 clause 6(fa): inserted, on 1 October 2024, by section 70 of the Education and Training Amendment Act 2024 (2024 No 40).

7

Land owned or used by, and for the purposes of, an institution for the instruction and training of students in theology and associated subjects, being land that does not exceed 1.5 hectares for any one institution.

8

Land owned or used by Health New Zealand and used to provide health or related services (including living accommodation for hospital purposes and child welfare homes).

Notes

Schedule 1 Part 1 clause 8: amended, on 1 July 2022, by section 104 of the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022 (2022 No 30).

9

Land used solely or principally—

as a place of religious worship:

for a Sunday or Sabbath school or other form of religious education and not used for private pecuniary profit.

10

Land that is used as—

a cemetery, crematorium, or burial ground, within the meaning of section 2(1) of the Burial and Cremation Act 1964 (except a burial ground or crematorium that is owned and conducted for private pecuniary profit):

a Māori burial ground.

Notes

Schedule 1 Part 1 clause 10: amended, on 1 July 2021, by section 52(2) of the Local Government (Rating of Whenua Māori) Amendment Act 2021 (2021 No 12).

11

Māori customary land.

12

Land that is used for the purposes of a marae, excluding any land used—

primarily for commercial or agricultural activity; or

as residential accommodation.

Notes

Schedule 1 Part 1 clause 12: replaced, on 1 July 2021, by section 52(3) of the Local Government (Rating of Whenua Māori) Amendment Act 2021 (2021 No 12).

13

Land that is set apart under section 338 of Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993 or any corresponding former provision of that Act and used for the purposes of a meeting place, excluding any land used—

primarily for commercial or agricultural activity; or

as residential accommodation.

Notes

Schedule 1 Part 1 clause 13: replaced, on 1 July 2021, by section 52(3) of the Local Government (Rating of Whenua Māori) Amendment Act 2021 (2021 No 12).

13A

Māori freehold land on which a meeting house is erected, excluding any land used—

primarily for commercial or agricultural activity; or

as residential accommodation.

Notes

Schedule 1 Part 1 clause 13A: inserted, on 1 July 2021, by section 52(3) of the Local Government (Rating of Whenua Māori) Amendment Act 2021 (2021 No 12).

13B

Land that is a Māori reservation held for the common use and benefit of the people of New Zealand under section 340 of Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993.

Notes

Schedule 1 Part 1 clause 13B: inserted, on 1 July 2021, by section 52(3) of the Local Government (Rating of Whenua Māori) Amendment Act 2021 (2021 No 12).

14

Māori freehold land that is, for the time being, non-rateable by virtue of an Order in Council made under section 116 of this Act, to the extent specified in the order.

14A

An unused rating unit of Māori freehold land.

Notes

Schedule 1 Part 1 clause 14A: inserted, on 1 July 2021, by section 52(4) of the Local Government (Rating of Whenua Māori) Amendment Act 2021 (2021 No 12).

15

Machinery, whether fixed to the soil or not, but excluding, in the case of a hydro-electric power station, everything other than the turbines, generator, and associated equipment through which the electricity produced by the generator passes.

16

Land that is specifically exempt from rates under the provisions of any other enactment, to the extent specified in the enactment.

17

Land vested in the Crown or a local authority that is formed and used for a road, limited access road, access way, or service lane.

18

Land vested in and occupied by the Crown, or by any airport authority or airport operator, that is—

within the operational area of an aerodrome; and

used solely or principally—

for the landing, departure, or movement of aircraft; or
for the loading of goods and passengers on to or from aircraft.

Notes

Schedule 1 Part 1 clause 18: amended, on 5 April 2025, by section 486 of the Civil Aviation Act 2023 (2023 No 10).

19

Land occupied by the New Zealand Railways Corporation, or by a railway operator, that is—

part of the permanent way of the railway, being land on which is sited any railway line together with contiguous areas of land that are occupied incidentally and not otherwise used; or

used, solely or principally, for the loading or unloading of goods or passengers on to or from trains situated on the railway line.

20

Land used as a wharf.

21

Land used or occupied by, or for the purposes of, an institution that is carried on for the free maintenance or relief of persons in need, being land that does not exceed 1.5 hectares for any one institution.

22

Land on which any vice-regal residence or Parliament building is situated.

23

The common marine and coastal area, including any customary marine title area, within the meaning of the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011.

Notes

Schedule 1 Part 1 clause 23: added, on 1 April 2011, by section 128 of the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011 (2011 No 3).

24

The bed of Te Whaanga Lagoon in the Chatham Islands.

Notes

Schedule 1 Part 1 clause 24: added, on 1 April 2011, by section 128 of the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011 (2011 No 3).

25

Structures that are—

fixed to, or under, or over any part of the common marine and coastal area; and

owned, or deemed to be owned, by the Crown under section 18 or 19 of the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011; or

owned by the Crown, Te Urewera Board, or the trustees of Tūhoe Te Uru Taumatua under the Te Urewera Act 2014, but subject to note 2.

Notes

Schedule 1 Part 1 clause 25: added, on 1 April 2011, by section 128 of the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011 (2011 No 3).
Schedule 1 Part 1 clause 25(b): amended, on 28 July 2014, by section 138 of the Te Urewera Act 2014 (2014 No 51).
Schedule 1 Part 1 clause 25(c): inserted, on 28 July 2014, by section 138 of the Te Urewera Act 2014 (2014 No 51).

For the purposes of this Part, unless the context otherwise requires,—

For the purposes of clauses 1 and 2, land does not include land that is used primarily or exclusively for private or commercial purposes under a lease, licence, or other agreement.

For the purposes of clauses 3, 9, and 10, land must not be treated as being used for private pecuniary profit solely because charges are made for the admission to, or use of, that land if the net proceeds of the charges are applied,—

in the case of a local authority, as part of the local authority’s revenues:
solely for the purposes of the society, organisation, association, or administering body of a reserve that makes those charges, and no part of the charges is distributed as profit to any individual.

For the purposes of clause 6, land must be treated as being used for the purposes of a school, institution, or centre described in that clause if—

it is used solely or predominantly as residential accommodation for any principal, teacher, or caretaker; and
it is let at a discounted or subsidised rent.

For the purposes of clause 14A,—

a rating unit is unused if—
1. there is no person actually using any part of the rating unit; or
2. the entire rating unit is used in a similar manner to a reserve or conservation area and no part of the rating unit is—
  1. leased by any person; or
  2. used as residential accommodation; or
  3. used for any activity (whether commercial or agricultural) other than for personal visits to the land or personal collections of kai or cultural or medicinal material from the land; and
a rating unit must not be treated as being used solely because a person is a participant under the Climate Change Response Act 2002 in respect of an activity relating to the rating unit.

For the purposes of clauses 18 to 20, land does not include land that is used—

for administrative purposes; or
for the purposes of parking, the storage of freight or machinery, maintenance, cleaning, freight consolidation, passenger waiting areas, and the buying and selling of tickets.

For the purposes of clause 21, an institution must be treated as being carried on for the free maintenance and relief of the persons to whom that clause applies if—

those persons are admitted to the institution regardless of their ability to pay for the maintenance or relief; and
no charge is made to those persons or any other persons if payment of the charge would cause those persons to suffer hardship.

Part 2Land 50% non-rateable

1

Land owned or used by a society incorporated under the Agricultural and Pastoral Societies Act 1908 as a showground or place of meeting.

2

Land owned or used by a society or association of persons (whether incorporated or not) for games or sports, except galloping races, harness races, or greyhound races.

3

Land owned or used by a society or association of persons (whether incorporated or not) for the purpose of any branch of the arts.

For the purposes of this Part, unless the context otherwise requires,—

land does not include land used for the private pecuniary profit of any members of the society or association
land, in clause 2, excludes land in respect of which a club licence under the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 is for the time being in force.

Notes

Schedule 1 Part 2 Notes land: amended, on 18 December 2013, by section 417(1) of the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 (2012 No 120).