Building Amendment Bill (No.4) had its first reading in parliament on 1 May 2012. The bill, if passed, will significantly enhance the consumer protection measures for building work.
Author Archives | denisemarsden
Residential Developers and Building Amendment Bill (No.4)
Posted on 18 May 2012.
Posted in Legal0 Comments
Warranty vs due diligence
Posted on 13 April 2012.
On 28 March 2007 Mr and Mrs Singh, experienced orchardists, signed up to purchase a lemon and kiwifruit orchard in Glenbrook. The standard form of agreement for sale and purchase of real estate was used.
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Unit Titles – 8 months on
Posted on 12 March 2012.
The Unit Titles Act 2010 has been in force for over 8 months now. Most bodies corporate have had their first AGM under the new Act and made the necessary decisions. The next key date is 1 October 2012. By this date:
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Licensing and restricted building work
Posted on 07 March 2012.
The new Restricted Building Work regime applies when renovating or building residential houses and small to medium apartment buildings. Restricted building work is work to the structure or external moisture management system of these structures – work that is critical to the integrity of the building. Most residential building work that needs building consent will be restricted building work.
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What is quiet enjoyment?
Posted on 05 March 2012.
The right of a lessee under a commercial lease to quiet enjoyment is implied in the majority of leases. The implied covenant is a limited guarantee that the lessee can occupy the premises without interruption or disturbance from the lessor, or persons through whom the lessor derives title or persons who claim through the lessor.
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Subdivisions That Involve Common Areas and Societies
Posted on 22 February 2012.
Common areas and the requirement to become a member of a society or a shareholder in a company have been popular means of managing residential subdivisions over the last decade. They necessitate compliance with the Securities Act 1978 although an exemption from full compliance has been established for these types of developments.
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Summer trading hours and leases
Posted on 20 December 2011.
At this time of year with Christmas trading and summer there may be lessors who are approached by lessees requesting a change to their trading hours. Leaving aside resource management restrictions, retail leases commonly give the lessor an unqualified right to approve any modification in trading hours.
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Felling Trees This Summer
Posted on 20 December 2011.
Have heard about law changes making it easier to chop down trees? Are you waiting for 1 January 2012 so you can fell a pesky tree without the need to apply for a resource consent? Not so fast. Case law earlier this year shows the changes to the legislation may not work quite how many people expected them to.
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Buying a bach?
Posted on 20 December 2011.
If you become tempted to purchase a bach over the Christmas period (as a certain partner of ours did one year) then an agreement on an envelope will certainly be legally enforceable if done properly. Debra bought her family bach by recording an agreement on an envelope that included adoption of the standard ADLS/REINZ terms for the sale and purchase of real estate.
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Development funding anyone?
Posted on 31 August 2011.
The changes to the NZ investor migrant policy that we flagged a couple of months ago have just been made operative. This should be of interest to developers seeking development funding.
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Can a lessor refuse to renew?
Posted on 31 August 2011.
A lessor must tread very carefully when considering the position of a lessee who has not yet exercised its right to renew the lease. The Property Law Act 2007 assists a lessee by providing relief in two situations where a right of renewal would otherwise be lost:
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Unit Titles Act 2010 Developers and Disclosure
Posted on 11 May 2011.
The impact of the Unit Titles Act 2010 on developers- Disclosure requirements in general are introduced in a previous blog. What follows is an analysis of the specific implications for developers and the additional “turnover disclosure” that is relevant when a development is completed.
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Compulsory GST zero rating – new GST rules
Posted on 11 May 2011.
From 1 April 2011 it became compulsory for certain land transactions to be compulsory zero rated (CZR). This means that GST will be charged at the zero percent. The regime will apply to almost all transactions involving land that are made between GST registered parties. There are some limited exclusions.
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Destruction and leases
Posted on 11 May 2011.
What is happening in Christchurch is impacting on the New Zealand property industry in all sorts of ways. One of these is the debate regarding contractual obligations between the parties. Most leases inadequately deal with the situation in Christchurch. Whilst they may deal with partial destruction and total destruction they do not adequately cover many of the circumstances that have arisen in the cordon area.
Posted in Legal0 Comments
Compulsory zero-rating
Posted on 04 April 2011.
From 1 April 2011 GST will be set at 0% for nearly all land transactions between GST registered parties. This compulsory zero-rating is designed to prevent the IRD having to pay out GST refunds to purchasers where the vendors have not returned the GST.
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Pre-emptions and options to purchase
Posted on 04 April 2011.
The drafting of a pre-emption clause and option to purchase in a lease was considered by the Court of Appeal. The tenant’s option to purchase had been exercised by Fitzroy Engineering Group Limited and Technix Group Limited was attempting to then exercise its right of pre-emption.
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