What is Māori freehold land?
Māori freehold land (MFL) is land that has had its beneficial ownership determined by the Māori Land Court by freehold order.
The policy aims to support Māori to:
- retain ownership of land in line with
tikanga Māori values
- use the land in a way that aligns with spiritual and cultural values
- assess rates charges that recognise the limitations on the use, development, and sale of MFL compared to other land.
Conditions and criteria
The policy allows us to remit (reduce) the rates on MFL that has multiple owners.
The policy will also apply to other types of Māori land that has multiple owners, including land returned under settlement, and land converted from Māori freehold land title under the Māori Affairs Act 1967, where we consider it just and equitable to do so.
The policy is not available for land that is:
- not owned by Māori
- commercially leased or is not held in accordance with tikanga Māori values
- used for purposes which do not align with the purpose of the policy.
Land returned due to treaty settlement will not generally be eligible for remission under the policy.
We may consider a remission for the land, or part of the land, where it is:
- used and protected for cultural, historic or natural conservation purposes or because it is
wāhi tapu(under Part 1 of the policy)
- used for a
marae or
urupā (under Part 3 of the policy).