Foreign farm buyer applications withdrawn in the past 12 months have tripled, OIO figures show

Foreign farm buyer applications withdrawn in the past 12 months have tripled, OIO figures show
Jonathan Underhill
By Jonathan Underhill June 21 (BusinessDesk) - The rate at which potential foreign buyers of New Zealand farms subsequently withdrew their applications to the Overseas Investment Office tripled in the past 12 months, OIO figures show. The data captures the period since the government's directive to the OIO to tighten rules for overseas applications to buy sensitive New Zealand land (which means any farmland over 5 hectares). The ministerial directive in a letter from Finance Minister Grant Robertson last November to Land Information NZ ch...