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Resource Management Act 1991

Subdivision and reclamations - Conditions as to amalgamation of land

240: Covenant against transfer of allotments

You could also call this:

“A promise to follow rules when selling or transferring subdivided land”

When you get consent to subdivide land, the territorial authority might require you to agree to a covenant. This covenant is like a promise that you make to the territorial authority. You must sign this covenant before the territorial authority approves the survey plan.

If you have made this promise, the territorial authority will put a certificate on the survey plan to show this. The Registrar-General of Land will not deposit the survey plan under the Land Transfer Act 2017 unless the covenant is lodged for registration. This means you cannot sell or transfer the land without following the rules of the covenant.

The covenant must be in writing and signed by you and the chief executive of the territorial authority. It creates an interest in the land for the territorial authority when it is registered under the Land Transfer Act 2017. This interest means the territorial authority has some control over what happens to the land.

The territorial authority can cancel the covenant at any time, either before or after the survey plan is deposited. If they cancel the covenant, they must let the Registrar-General of Land know so they can update their records.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM237606.

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"When land is set aside for the community, the council or government owns it for a specific purpose."

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241: Amalgamation of allotments, or

"Combining small blocks of land into one title"

Part 10 Subdivision and reclamations
Conditions as to amalgamation of land

240Covenant against transfer of allotments

  1. Where a subdivision consent includes a condition under section 220(1)(b) which requires that the owner enter into a covenant with the territorial authority of the kind referred to in section 220(2)(a), the territorial authority—

  2. shall not approve the survey plan unless the owner has entered into such a covenant; and
    1. when the covenant has been entered into, shall endorse on the survey plan a certificate to this effect.

      1. Where a survey plan is endorsed with a certificate of the kind referred to in subsection (1)(b),—

      2. the Registrar-General of Land shall not deposit the survey plan under the Land Transfer Act 2017, and (in respect of a subdivision by the Crown) shall not issue a record of title for any separate allotment on a survey plan approved by the Chief Surveyor for the purposes of section 228; and
        1. the Registrar-General of Land shall not deposit the survey plan in the Deeds Register Office,—
            1. unless the covenant referred to in the certificate has been lodged for registration.

          1. Every covenant referred to in subsection (1) shall be in writing, be signed by the owner, be signed by the chief executive or other authorised officer of the territorial authority, and be deemed—

          2. to be an instrument capable of registration under the Land Transfer Act 2017 and, when so registered, to create in favour of the territorial authority an interest in the land in respect of which it is registered, within the meaning of section 51 of that Act; and
            1. to run with the land and bind subsequent owners.

              1. The territorial authority may at any time, whether before or after the survey plan has been deposited in the Land Registry Office or the Deeds Register Office, cancel, in whole or in part, any covenant imposed under this section or under the corresponding provision of any former enactment.

              2. When a territorial authority cancels a covenant in whole or in part, then—

              3. where the survey plan has not been approved by the Chief Surveyor, a memorandum of the cancellation shall be endorsed on the survey plan:
                1. where the survey plan has been approved by the Chief Surveyor or deposited, the territorial authority must forward to the Registrar-General of Land a certificate signed by the chief executive or other authorised officer of the territorial authority to the effect that the covenant has been cancelled in whole or in part, and the Registrar-General of Land must note the records accordingly.

                  Notes
                  • Section 240(2)(a): amended, on , by section 250 of the Land Transfer Act 2017 (2017 No 30).
                  • Section 240(2)(a): amended, on , by section 150 of the Resource Management (Simplifying and Streamlining) Amendment Act 2009 (2009 No 31).
                  • Section 240(2)(b): amended, on , by section 150 of the Resource Management (Simplifying and Streamlining) Amendment Act 2009 (2009 No 31).
                  • Section 240(3): amended, on , by section 262 of the Local Government Act 2002 (2002 No 84).
                  • Section 240(3): amended, on , by section 46(1) of the Resource Management Amendment Act 1997 (1997 No 104).
                  • Section 240(3)(a): amended, on , by section 250 of the Land Transfer Act 2017 (2017 No 30).
                  • Section 240(4): inserted, on , by section 127 of the Resource Management Amendment Act 1993 (1993 No 65).
                  • Section 240(5): inserted, on , by section 127 of the Resource Management Amendment Act 1993 (1993 No 65).
                  • Section 240(5)(b): replaced, on , by section 46(2) of the Resource Management Amendment Act 1997 (1997 No 104).
                  • Section 240(5)(b): amended, on , by section 150 of the Resource Management (Simplifying and Streamlining) Amendment Act 2009 (2009 No 31).
                  • Section 240(5)(b): amended, on , by section 262 of the Local Government Act 2002 (2002 No 84).