New Zealand Real Estate: Property Law, Ownership, and Transfer

This report provides an overview of real estate and property law in New Zealand, focusing on the Property Law Act 2007 and its key provisions. It defines property under the Act, outlining the conditions for establishing ownership and control. The report further explores different types of property titles in New Zealand, including joint tenancy, tenants in common, and cross-lease titles, explaining the rights and responsibilities associated with each. It details the rules and regulations governing the transfer of property ownership, emphasizing compliance with the Sales of Goods Act 1908. Additionally, the document discusses various ways land can be owned in New Zealand, such as by individuals, corporations, or trusts, with a focus on joint ownership agreements like joint tenants and tenants in common. The report concludes by highlighting the importance of verifying ownership before transferring property and adhering to relevant regulations for a valid sale.

Running head: REAL ESTATE
Real Estate
Name of the Student:
Name of the university:
Authors Note:

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Table of Contents
Answer to question 1..................................................................................................................1
Answer to question 2..................................................................................................................2
Answer to question 3..................................................................................................................3
Answer to question 4..................................................................................................................3
Answer to question 5..................................................................................................................4
Reference....................................................................................................................................4

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Answer to question 1.
The law that is prevalent within the country in respect of the matters concerning
property that is being held up by an individual or an entity is known as the Property Law Act
2007. As per the guidelines of the act several terminologies pertaining to eh same have been
clearly defined (Cerutti et al. 2017).
For a particular matter or thing to be considered as a property there are several factors or
condition that is to be fulfilled by the same. All the factors and the consideration that are
needed to comply with the law are being stated clearly in the provisions of the law. Some of
the factors that are to be fulfilled are as follows:
a) The owner must establish actual control over the property.
b) The control exercised by the owner must be socially recognised.
c) It must be something over which the owner exercises complete ownership.
d) There must be something that the user must be able to exert power over.
Answer to question 2.
Some of the titles that the property in New Zealand includes are as follows:
a) Joint tenancy:
In case of the Joint tenancy two or more people purchase a property but the owners of
the property do not enjoy the divided shares in the house. Neither of the owners can
claim that they own a particular share in the property (Barnes et al. 2015). Both of
them jointly own a property. This kind of agreement is generally entered into by
couples
b) Tenants in common:

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In case of these kinds of agreement the owners of the property jointly own a property
but either of the owners of the property enjoys a separate share. These kind of
ownership or agreement is utilised in case the property is being jointly purchased by a
group of friends, business associates etc.
c) Cross lease title:
In such agreement two or more people are able to share their ownership and the
relationship can be termed as tenants in common. The same is concerned with land
wherein the owners have built their own respective homes.
Answer to question 3.
For the purpose of transferring the rights of the ownership of a property that is being
held by an individual or an entity several rules and regulations has to be followed. If the
individual or the entity fails to follow the provisions stated out in the law of the country, the
transfer of the ownership will not be considered as valid (Greenaway-McGrevy and Phillips
2016). For the purpose of validating the transfer of the ownership it has to be ensured that all
the provisions laid down in the Sales of Goods Act 1908 is followed.
Answer to question 4.
In case of New Zealand the land can be owned by a person, a corporation or a trust. In
New Zealand one of the most common ways to own a land for any individual or entity is to
engage in an agreement that involves joint ownership. The agreement is referred to as Joint
Tenants or tenants in common (Adnan et al. 2017). The meaning of the same are discussed
below.
Joint tenants:

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In this case two or more person owns the land together without dividing the shares.
Each of the owners possesses the right to sell or transfer their interest. But at the same time
transfer of will is not permitted under the terms of this type of agreement. Due to this one FO
the other words that are being sued to describe such kind of relationship or agreement is
“right of survivorship”. The essence of this kind of agreement is that on the death of one of
the tenants all the rights pertaining to him will be transferred to other tenants (Jiang et al.
2015).
Tenants in common:
In the case of this kind of agreement the owners of the land have a quantifiable
amount of share. The decision regarding the type of the agreement i.e. whether the agreement
between the parties will be termed as tenants in common or not will be clearly stated out in
the document.
Answer to question 5.
For the purpose of transfer of ownership the individual or the entity must ensure that
he is the owner of the property the ownership of which is proposed to be transferred to a
different party. The reason for that one of the primary requisite for the sale of any property is
that the property must be owned by the seller (Pow 2017). After it has been established that
the property is duly owned by the individual or the entity it has to be ensured that the same is
being transferred to someone else based on the rules and the regulations that are prevalent in
the country regarding the same. For the purpose of conducting the same all the provisions
pertaining to the Sale of Goods Act 1908 of the country has to be followed diligently.

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Reference
Adnan, Y.M., Daud, M.N., Alias, A. and Razali, M.N., 2017. Importance of soft skills for
graduates in the real estate programmes in Malaysia. Journal of Surveying, Construction and
Property, 3(2).
Barnes, A.M., Taylor, N.M. and Vereijssen, J., 2015. Non-crop host plants: prime real estate
for the tomato potato psyllid in New Zealand?. NZ Plant Prot, 68, p.441.
Cerutti, E., Dagher, J. and Dell'Ariccia, G., 2017. Housing finance and real-estate booms: a
cross-country perspective. Journal of Housing Economics, 38, pp.1-13.
Greenaway-McGrevy, R. and Phillips, P.C., 2016. Hot property in New Zealand: Empirical
evidence of housing bubbles in the metropolitan centres. New Zealand Economic
Papers, 50(1), pp.88-113.
Jiang, L., Phillips, P.C. and Yu, J., 2015. New methodology for constructing real estate price
indices applied to the Singapore residential market. Journal of Banking & Finance, 61,
pp.S121-S131.
Pow, C.P., 2017. Courting the ‘rich and restless’: Globalisation of real estate and the new
spatial fixities of the super-rich in Singapore. International Journal of Housing Policy, 17(1),
pp.56-74.

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