Luke Stewart

Qualifications

LLB, Canterbury University 2000
Admitted to the Bar in New Zealand 2001

Community Activity

Honorary solicitor for the Tauranga Chamber of Commerce, Eastern Bay Community Foundation, and Bay of Plenty Deerstalkers Association.
Solicitor acting for Legacy Funeral Homes, AIMS Games, Sport Bay of Plenty, Tourism Bay of Plenty, EPIC Whakatāne, Tauranga Maritime Trust.
Previous board member and president of Tauranga Chamber of Commerce.
Previous board member Pillans Point Primary School.
Luke competed in the Coast to Coast in 2021.

Contact

DDI: +64 7 571 3835
M: +64 27 341 8234
E: luke.stewart@hobec.co.nz

Luke specialises in property, rural, business and asset planning law.

He joined Holland Beckett in 2006 and was appointed a Partner in 2014. Luke manages an experienced team across the Tauranga and Whakatāne offices.

Luke’s experience includes the following:

Residential and commercial conveyancing and structuring advice for private individuals and developers.
Negotiating large forestry, dairy and kiwifruit transactions for Māori trusts, private clients and corporate farming entities.
Acting for Foodstuffs Members in the purchase and sale of Pak n Save, Gilmours and Four Square stores throughout the country.
Advising high net worth individuals and medium size business owners on trust, leasing, farm sales, estates, shareholder agreements and restructuring matters.
Acting for property developers on commercial and property matters including multiple lot subdivisions.

Prior to joining Holland Beckett, Luke worked for the Department of Trade and Industry in London, and Langley Twigg in Napier in the commercial/property and employment teams.

Luke Stewart's Expertise

Rural & Agribusiness

Estate Administration

Trusts, Asset Protection & Estate Planning

Property Law

Commercial Law

Luke Stewart's News & Resources

Bright-line Tax Changes – What You Need To Know

It is a bright day for some property owners this July with the relaxing of the Bright-line Test requirement. What is the Bright-line Test The Bright-line test sets a out a timeframe where if a sale of a residential property occurs, the profit gained may count as income and therefore be taxable. However, some exceptions or rollover reliefs may apply that sidesteps the Bright-line rule. The Bright-line Test Historically From its inception in 2015, the Brightline test was set for a period of 2 years. A first amendment extended the period to 5 years if residential properties were purchased between 29 March 2018 and 26 March 2021. A further amendment was then made for residential properties purchased between 27 March 2021 and 30 June 2024 to have the Brightline period for 5 years for qualifying new builds or 10 years for other residential properties. Bright-line Latest Changes As of 1 July 2024, the Bright-line period is reduced back down to 2 years. So, residential properties sold on or after 1 July 2024 that is outside the 2-year period from when it was purchased will not be subject to the new Bright-line test. However, other tax obligations may still apply particularly to those who make a living out of buying and selling residential properties. Tax obligations may also apply if caught by the “intention test”, the idea being that if you buy a property with the intention of re-selling it to make a profit, you can be taxed. Some Exceptions to the Bright-line Test The Bright-line test does not apply if you are selling your main home. However, the main home must have been used “predominantly, for most of the time” during the period you own it. The test also does not apply to residential properties transferred to the executors, administrators or beneficiaries of a deceased estate. Rollover Relief A rollover relief may also apply. This is when a transferee to whom the residential property is transferred is deemed to have acquired the residential property at the same time as when the transferor acquired the residential property. Rollover reliefs may apply between transferors and transferees who are associated persons such as transfers between certain family members, some transfers of trust property, transfers of relationship property or transfers resulting from separations. However, the associated persons must have been associated for at least 2 years prior to the date of the transfer of residential property. Conclusion Only so much can be said in this article regarding the tax implications in selling a property. It is always prudent to seek legal and tax advice from a qualified professional when doing so. But at least the time frames for Bright-line which was resulting in profits from many rental property sales being taxed have been reduced from 1 July 2024. Please feel free to contact us for specific advice on your rental property sales.

Reverse Mortgages

A reverse mortgage is a loan for people over 60 years of age that allows them to access equity in their property in order to release cash to them. We see plenty of clients that have benefitted from these loans in allowing them to e.g. fund necessary improvements or maintenance to their property to enable them to stay in their own home longer or for other purposes such as a more comfortable retirement in light of the increasing costs of living. The key attraction of a reverse mortgage loan is that you don’t need to make regular repayments, and generally repayments can be made at any time without penalty. Instead, they service the interest every week, the interest is just added to the loan balance and accumulates. Your total loan is repayable upon what is commonly called a ‘payment event’, which is where you may sell your property, move into a retirement village or upon your death. There is a limited ability to transfer the loan to another property if you move. Interest rates are generally higher than standard registered bank loans and borrowers need to understand the implications of these higher rates. In the current market, property values are not increasing as fast as they have in the past so the equity in your home could be depleted too fast given there are no increasing property values to offset losses. Due to the accumulation of interest at a higher rate, if you wish to sell your house and purchase a new house, or move into a retirement village in future, this may be more difficult to achieve as the equity you have left in your property may have reduced to an insufficient sum necessary for the subsequent purchase. Nevertheless, reverse mortgages can be an appropriate way of making funds available to you. The additional funds can support living expenses, healthcare costs or other needs. We are commonly instructed by banks to provide legal advice regarding these loans. Following our advice, our work involves discharging any existing mortgage, registering your new reverse mortgage and attending to any estate matters which may arise as part of our discussion. If you require any legal assistance on a reverse mortgage, please get in touch.

New Firearms Registration Law

The second phase of the firearms reform process that began in 2019 reached a new milestone on 24 June 2023 with the introduction of the Arms Amendment Regulations 2023. The new firearms registry set up under the Regulations is administered by the Firearms Safety Authority. The Authority launched in late 2022. It works with the Commissioner of Police to provide a range of services related to firearms registration. The registry will progressively impose reporting requirements on New Zealand’s 240,000 licenced firearms owners over the next five years. For simplicity, in this article, we refer to “guns” and “weapons”. But these obligations apply to all “arms items”: firearms, magazines, pistols, restricted weapons, ‘major parts’, and pistol carbine conversion kits. The Regulations do not currently require the registration of other parts which require a firearms licence to purchase. This includes grips, frames, chassis systems, flash suppressors, and silencers. Firearms that are inoperative do need to be registered. The only exclusions are antique guns, and airguns (except for “especially dangerous airguns”). Guns are classed as antiques if manufactured before 1899, are held solely as antiques, and if incapable of firing rimfire and centrefire ammunition. Firearms dealers are subject to somewhat more onerous obligations, and required to register their stock before 24 June 2025. The Authority will proactively contact dealers to advise them how to register their stock. From 24 June 2023, gun owners can voluntarily register their weapons at any time, either by setting up a MyFirearms account on the Authority’s online portal (which allows use of the RealMe service already in use by IRD and other departments), or by phone (freephone 0800 844 431). To register, gun owners will require details of their firearms licence, and the identification details for their weapons (including manufacturer, year of manufacture, action, calibre/gauge, and serial number). Any custom made weapons or other items without identifying marks will need to be registered over the telephone. All gun owners will need to have registered their weapons with the Authority before the close of 31 August 2028 by the latest. However, an earlier deadline can apply in some circumstances. Gun owners will need to take care of registration earlier than 31 August 2028 if: They apply for a new licence, endorsement, or licence renewal. New licence holders will need to register their guns when they get their licence. Renewing owners have 30 days after the renewal to register their guns. They buy, sell, supply, or receive a gun. The item that changes hands must be registered as soon as practicable after the weapon changes hands, and they must register all of their guns (even those not changing hands) within a month after the transfer. They import a gun. That item must be registered within 30 days after the gun is released by customs, and all their other weapons must be registered a month after that same day. They manufacture or export a gun. That item must be registered within five days after the export or manufacture is complete, and all their other weapons must be registered a month after that same day. They notify the Police that they have lost a gun, had one stolen, or have destroyed a firearm. In that case, they will need to register that gun immediately, and their other weapons within 30 days after that gun was lost, stolen, or destroyed. Ammunition does not need to be registered. However, if a gun owner buys ammunition after 24 June 2025, they will need to register all weapons within their possession within 30 days after the purchase. There is no charge for registering a firearm. Where a gun changes hands, the obligation to register the change in ownership is with the person making the transfer (ie. the seller or person giving the gun away or exporting it). If a licenced firearms owner has no items in their possession, they will still be required to register and declare “No Arms Items”. Guns can only be registered to one licenced owner. If a person is responsible for a weapon for a club, range, organisation, or business, they will need to register the firearm against their licence. If a gun is being loaned or given for safekeeping to another licence-holder for less than 30 days, the transfer does not need to be registered. Any longer term loans will need to be registered by the person handing over custody of the weapon. Gun owners who fail to register their weapons in a timely manner face a fine of $10,000, even for unintentional breaches of the regulations. Deliberately failing to comply the rules can lead to fines of $20,000, or up to two years in prison. So, if in doubt, it will pay to seek advice. The information held by the registry (ie. the firearms owned by a licence holder) will be accessible by the Police when carrying out their lawful duties. Upon request, holders of firearms licences and dealer’s licences to view their own information and confirm/verify the licence, endorsement, and permit status of any person they are buying or selling firearms to. However, they will not be able to see what firearms are owned by the other party. If in any doubt over your registration obligations, or if you have any questions at all related to firearms and the law, Holland Beckett Law’s wide-reaching practice – from criminal to civil, from city to country – allows us to provide the answers you need.

Purchasing a Kiwifruit Orchard

Purchasing a kiwifruit orchard comes with lots to think about and plenty of due diligence to undertake. Often the purchase will be conditional on these further investigations, so what is important to consider? For most orchardists, water and compliance are key considerations. Often water is sourced from a bore, either on the land itself or from neighbouring properties pursuant to an easement or water supply scheme. However, to take water for irrigation or frost protection, you not only need the legal right to convey the water from its source potentially across your neighbours\' land but also consider the terms of this easement and rules around how you are to share pump maintenance and running costs with your neighbours. As well as ensuring there is the appropriate Resource Consent to draw either surface water or bore water at a sufficient rate to irrigate or provide the necessary frost protection. Resource Consents have strict allowable flows and volumes and require metering and monitoring to ensure compliance. In some cases water storage on site is necessary to make sure that sufficient volumes of water are readily available in times of peak demand without breaching the flow limits. In addition to water, overall compliance by the vendor is important, such as not exceeding their licensed plantable area, ensuring Global Gap compliance, maintaining the required spray programme and diary to Zespri’s export standard, etc. Another big factor is the ownership of the crop that may be on the vines or could have been picked. Special care is needed when a settlement is likely to take place around picking time as the treatment of hanging fruit can be different from picked fruit from a tax point of view. Most agreements will clearly state who retains ownership of the current crop and who is to benefit from the sale proceeds, even if it is already (or will be by settlement) picked and in the coolstore. With Zespri’s trailing payment method over the year following the picking of a crop, there can be significant cashflow impacts for a buyer if they don’t also buy the crop, as they may not get any income from the orchard until the following year\'s crop, starting up to 12 months later. In this case sufficient finance would need to be in place from the outset to fund orchard expenditure until income is received. Ultimately the ownership of the crop has an impact on the overall price paid for the orchard and a purchasers funding requirements. Other considerations include: Legal Title and any other registered interests or easements on the land Licence Ownership Any ongoing management agreements Your structure and ownership entity KPIN transfer Chattels and Improvements and the apportionment of values Zespri shares and many more. If you are contemplating purchasing your first orchard or expanding your existing operations, please contact us with any queries before entering into an agreement.