The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 7
General Land Regulations
General Land Regulations.
Section I.—Town Allotments and Suburban Allotments.
1.—Town and Suburban Lands to be sold by Auction.
All lands reserved as Town and Suburban allotments will be sold by Auction according to the Regulations hereinafter prescribed for Auction sales, and at such prices as may be fixed by Government in the public Notice or Proclamation in which the intended sale of such allotments is notified.
2.—Regulation not to prevent sales of Land already open for purchase.
The foregoing rule will not prevent the sale of such Town and Suburban allotments as are now open for purchase under former Regulations.
Sec. II.—Lands within the Limits of Hundreds.
3.—Lands inside Hundreds to be sold by Auction, unless in Hundreds exempted, from this rule.
Lands within the limits of Hundreds (except in those Hundreds which may, upon the petition of the inhabitants thereof or otherwise, be declared as not falling within this rule), will be sold by Auction in accordance with page 5 the Regulations hereinafter prescribed for Auction sales, and at such prices and in allotments of such extent as may be fixed by Government in the public Notice or Proclamation in which the intended sale of such lands is notified.
4.—In which case the Regulations of the next section to apply to such exempted Lands.
In those Hundreds or parts of Hundreds which may be declared not to fall within the preceding rule, all the Regulations contained in the next section, relating to "Proclaimed Lands Outside Hundreds," shall apply to the lands so exempted.
5.—Preceding rules not to prevent sale of Lands within Hundreds already offered for sale.
The preceding rules will not prevent the sale of such lands within such Hundreds as are now open for purchase under former Regulations.
6.—Right of Pasturage in Hundreds is confined to occupants of land under Grant from the Crown, &c.
The right of Pasturage or. Waste Lands of the Crown within any Hundred is enjoyed exclusively by occupants of land held under Grant from the Crown, Pensioners enrolled for service in New Zealand, or persons of the Native or Half-caste races, occupying land within the Hundred with the permission of Government.
Sec. III.— Proclaimed Lands Outside Hundreds.
7.—Rural Lands outside Hundreds to he sold at the fixed price of 10s. per acre.
In Districts outside Hundreds which may be proclaimed or notified as open for sale, the intending purchaser must pay to the Commissioner of Crown Lands (or other officer appointed in that behalf), in cash or scrip, the price of any section or sections of land (generally not to be less than forty acres in extent), which he may desire to select; the price for all lands so selected being at the rate of Ten Shillings per acre. A surveyor will then be sent who will lay off the section or sections which may have been chosen, and will put the purchaser in possession of the same.
8.—But where Land is so unavailable that the Commissioner shall certify it is not worth 10s. per acre, Lands so certified shall be surveyed and put up to Auction at 5s. per acre.
The great part of the clause is repealed by "Wellington Waste [unclear: La] Amendmend Act, 1865.
9.—Mineral sections, or other sections for which there may be several competitors, may at any time be put up to Auction.
Nothing contained in the foregoing Regulations shall be construed to prevent the Government from offering any Mineral section for sale by Auction, if it should be found to possess peculiar value, or any Rural section, if from the amount of population in the vicinity thereof, there may be several competitors who may appear to have equal claims to it.
10.—Rural allotments to be generally of a rectangular form, and extend at least forty chains in depth from roads, rivers, &c.
Every allotment of Rural Land must, so far as circumstances and the natural features of the country will admit, be selected of a rectangular form, and, where fronting upon a river, road, lake or coast, be of a depth from the front of at least half a mile. No such allotment must be selected so as to monopolise the wood or water in any particular locality.
11.—But in any cultivated localities allotments of irregular shape and small extent may be laid out.
But in those neighborhoods where there may be a considerable extent of cultivated land, and persons may desire to complete their properties by the purchase of adjoining lands in blocks of irregular shape and small extent, the Government will afford every proper facility for their doing so. And in such localities small blocks of land will be laid out, in as far as possible to meet the views of intending purchasers.
12.—In districts where the lines of road are not laid out, a right of road reserved and allowance made in land from three to five per cent.
Purchasers of 500 acres or less will receive an allowance of | 5 acres per cent. |
Purchasers of between 500 and 1000 acres | 4 acres per cent. |
Purchasers of more than 1000 acres | 3 acres per cent. |
13.—Right of pre-emption of homesteads granted to runholders at a fixed price of either or 5s. per acre; the runholder however, may be called upon to exercise this right.
[unclear: This] clause is [unclear: repealed] by [unclear: the] "Wellington Waste [unclear: Lands] Amendment Act, 65."
14.—Lands applied for, which form part of a sufficiently stocked run, will, provided they be certified as unavailable for agriculture, be put up to auction at 5s. per acre, after three months' notice of sale shall have been given to the runholder.
This clause [unclear: is] repealed [unclear: by] the "[unclear: Wellington Waste] Lands [unclear: Amendment Act],18 65."
Sec. IV.—Unproclaimed Lands.
15.—Applicants for lands in unproclaimed districts to make their own surveys if a Government Surveyor cannot be sent.
Any person desirous of purchasing Crown Lands in districts not proclaimed or notified as about to be surveyed for sale, must, after selecting the locality and determing the number of acres he desires to purchase, give notice thereof to the Commissioner of Crown Lands; when he will be required, if the Government has no surveyor available for that purpose, to have such lauds surveyed at his own expense by a surveyor authorised by Government in that behalf, whose survey must be duly approved before the applicant is allowed to complete the purchase.
16.—In which case an allowance of five aerss per cent will be made.
In such case an allowance of land will be made to the applicant at the rate of five acres for every hundred acres so surveyed.
17.—If such land be sold at auction and the original applicant be outbid, the original applicant will be repaid, as the cost of such survey, a sum not exceeding one shilling per acre.
If the land so surveyed should fall under the regulations for land to be sold by auction, and the original applicant should not become the purchaser thereof, then the purchaser of the land, in addition to the amount he bid for the same, will be required to pay to the original applicant, as the cost of surveying such land, such amount, not exceeding one shilling per acre, as may be assessed by the Commissioner of Crown Lands, after taking such evidence respecting the cost of the survey as he may consider necessary.
18.—Allotments in unproclaimed districts not to be less than eighty acres in extent.
No allotment of less than 80 acres in extent will be disposed of in any unproclaimed district.
19.—Certain rules for lands in proclaimed districts to be also applicable in unproclaimed.
The rules in regard to Proclaimed Lands which relate to the prices of various kinds of land; to their sale at fixed price or by auction; to the page 8 shape of allotments; to the reservations for roads; to the right of pre-emption of homesteads on runs; and to the notice to be given to occupants of runs before land is sold by auction; will equally apply to lauds in unproclaimed districts. But where the applicant makes the survey at his own cost the deposit of 10 per cent referred to in Rule 8 will not be required.
Sec. V.—Sales by Auction.
20.—Lands sold by Auction to be first surveyed and marked on plans.
[unclear: also] Sec. of "[unclear: Adnal Landlations],"
21.—Public notice of sale to be given, not more than three months nor less than one.
Notice of the time and place at which any intended auction shall be held, as also of the allotments of land which will be then offered for sale, shall be given by Proclamation or public Notice, not more than three months nor less than one month before the same shall take place.
22.—Lands put up to Auction and not sold may be purchased at the upset price within three years unless again put up to auction.
It shall be competent to any person within three years next after any auction, to become without any further auction the purchaser of any lands so put up for sale as aforesaid and not then sold, by offering and paying for the same the upset price at which the same may have been put up for sale. Provided always that it shall be competent to the Government instead of permitting such lands to be purchased as aforesaid, to cause the same to be again put up to auction, giving such notice thereof as is hereinbefore provided.
23.—Ten per cent of the purchase money to be deposited at the sale and the remainder paid within one month, or deposit forfeited.
Immediate payment in cash of one-tenth of the purchase money shall be the condition of any such sale by auction, and the remaining nine-tenths of the purchase money must be paid by the purchaser within one calendar month next after the time of such sale by auction, or the one-tenth of the purchase money which has been deposited will be forfeited, and the original contract for the sale of the land will thenceforward be null and void.
24.—Lands on which such deposit shall have been so forfeited may be purchased within three years at the price bid for them, deducting any deposit paid, unless again put up to Auction.
In the case of lands thus forfeited by the non-completion of the contract for their purchase, it shall be competent for any person within the next three years after the auction at which the bidding for such lands was made, to purchase such lands for the amount that was bid for them, after deducting the amount of any deposit that shall have been paid thereon. But this regulation will not prevent the Government from causing the same lands to be put up to auction again if it shall appear necessary to do so.
Sec. VI.—Government Scrip.
25.—Scrip to be taken as cash in the purchase of Town and Suburban lots.
The Scrip to be issued in satisfaction of claims under land orders of the New Zealand Company shall be taken in payment for Town and Suburban Land at the nominal value of such Scrip in pounds sterling.
26.—Value at which Scrip shall be received in the purchase of rural lands of various denominations.
In the purchase of Rural Land the Scrip shall be taken at such a value that one pound in Scrip shall represent the upset price or fixed price, as the case may be, of one acre of Rural Land at the date when the Scrip may be tendered at the Treasury; and for the protection of the Scrip holders this rule shall equally prevail if the general price of Country Land throughout the colony shall at any time be raised : Provided always that in the purchase of all Rural Lands within the limits of Hundreds, and of such Rural Lands outside the limits of Hundreds as may be put up to auction or sold at a fixed price under clauses 9 and 11 of these Regulations, one pound in Scrip shall represent its nominal value of one pound sterling, except where such fixed or upset price is lower than £1 per acre, in which case it shall represent such lower price only.
27.—Scrip not available in the purchase of Crown Land in certain localities.
The Scrip will not be available in the purchase of Crown Land within the limits of any Hundred which shall have been proclaimed before the 2nd day of August, 1851, nor within the Town site of New Plymouth.
Sec. VII.—Military Settlers.
28.—Military and Naval Officers to be entitled throughout Crown Lands in New Zealand to privileges of Regulations of May, 1851 : but the remission money subject, to Regulations 25 and 26 as to scrip.
This section repealed
Sec. VIII.—Appropriation of the Land Fund.
29.—After defraying the charges created by Parliament, &c., the Land Fund to be applied to Public Works and Immigration, until otherwise directed by General Assembly or Provincial Legislatures.
This section now [unclear: obsolute]
For Adults | £16 | 0 | 0 | per head. |
Children between 7 and 14 years old | 10 | 10 | 0 | per head. |
Children between 1 and 7 years of Age | 6 | 0 | 0 | per head. |
In districts where a Land Fund may not have been created by the sale of land, the Government will receive applications from persons desirous of having their relations or friends sent out, and willing to enter into an agreement, guaranteed by some responsible person, for the repayment of the passage money within twelve months after their arrival in the colony.
page 10Sec. IX.—Fees on Crown Grants.
30.—The Fees on the issue of any Grown Grants to be 20s. only.
[unclear: stration, ution] Acreage to be [unclear: ad-] vide [unclear: own ts] Act," clauses [unclear: 8],39, and
Sec. X.—Commencement of Regulations.
31.—Regulations to come into force, except as regards lands reserved to the Canterbury and Otago Associations, fifteen days after the receipt in each Province of a copy thereof by the proper Officer.
[unclear: Complete.]
32.—Proclamation to take effect from date.
This Proclamation shall take effect from the day of the date hereof. Given under my hand, and issued under the Public Seal of the Islands of New Zealand, at Government House, at (l.s.) Wellington, in the Province of Wellington, in the Islands aforesaid, this fourth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
G. Grey,
Governor-in-Chief. By his Excellency's command,Alfred Domett,
Civil Secretary. God Save the Queen.