February has always been a stressful month for parents and children going back to school. But March is proving even more stressful with the threat of self-isolation looming for many parents of school-age children.
A recent news story on the front page of the stuff.co.nz website featured two Wellington couples who were selling their dream home after owning and living in it together for seven years. One comment suggested the story normalised the fact that “housing is now unaffordable for most Kiwis.” The story also normalised the fact that the current generation are more open to property sharing than in the past.
On 30 January 2021, the new Trusts Act 2019 will come into effect, replacing the Trustee Act 1956. It’s the first major update to Trust laws in more than 70 years
In the Winter 2019 edition of Property Speaking, we outlined schemes available to help first home buyers. Following the government’s announcement on 4 September 2019 of changes to the schemes, some schemes have been re-named.
The proposed purchaser of a Dunedin property is at least $150,000 out of pocket after improperly cancelling his agreement. The outcome in the recent court case Strack v Grey1 warns buyers to take a diligent approach to conditions in an agreement for sale and purchase of property.
If you frequently buy and sell property, you may want to keep a close eye on Inland Revenue’s review of some property tax rules that was announced in September 2019. One area being targeted is the use of the ‘main home exemption’.
The High Court has declared a contract term ‘unfair’ for the first time since the 2015 amendments to the Fair Trading Act 1986 (FTA) that make unfair contract terms unenforceable.
The High Court recently imposed a $36,000 fine against the New Zealand Trustees Association for sending 24,000 unsolicited commercial electronic messages.
