More tenancy law reform has arrived. Bear with me before rolling your eyes though — these new rules will finally give much-needed clarity to tenant-landlord liabilities for property damage.
When a relationship comes to an end, the divvying up of relationship property is no walk in the park. Often it can take months, if not years, for disagreements to be resolved. It’s an emotionally charged time, and it doesn’t help that the law in this area has some relatively blurred lines when it comes to the division of relationship property.
New Zealand has changed significantly over the last half-century. The Property (Relationships) Act 1976 was drafted at a time when couples generally married young and pooled their resources to buy a house as early as they could, a time when ABBA’s ‘Fernando’ topped the national charts and Fred Dagg and Footrot Flats made Kiwis laugh out loud.
Tiny houses are becoming extremely popular nationwide as property prices rise. Less energy consumption, lower environmental impact and cheaper housing, while still leaving room to develop other buildings on a single normal-sized plot. Win-win, right? Not quite.
Change is on the horizon for overseas property investment regulations as the second and final stage of the review of the Overseas Investment Act 2005 gets underway.
A unit title is a form of property ownership where you own your unit, but the common areas are owned by the body corporate. This ownership structure is common in high-rise apartment blocks.
The Queenstown Lakes District Council announced changes to short-term visitor accommodation rules, covering the likes of Airbnb, for certain zones earlier this year – but that didn’t account for all properties.
It might be more than 40 years old, but recent research reveals a concerning lack of understanding still prevails around who gets what under the Property (Relationships) Act 1976 in the event of a break-up or one partner dying.
