New Zealand is expanding the investment options available under its Active Investor Plus Visa, allowing applicants in the NZ$5 million Growth category to invest in Build to Rent developments from December 2026.
The change gives investors access to a property-related investment option within the Growth category for the first time, but with an important restriction: investors will not be able to invest directly in Build to Rent properties.
Instead, investments must be made through managed funds approved by Invest New Zealand.
How Will the New Build to Rent Investment Work?
Under the Growth category, applicants are required to invest at least NZ$5 million in qualifying New Zealand investments and maintain that investment for at least three years.
Currently, qualifying Growth investments include direct investments, approved managed funds, and philanthropy, with philanthropy limited to 20% of the total investment.
From December 2026, approved managed funds will also be able to provide exposure to qualifying Build to Rent developments.
In practical terms, the structure will look like this:
Investor → Invest New Zealand-approved managed fund → Build to Rent development
The investor will therefore be investing in the fund rather than purchasing an individual apartment or property.
What Is Build to Rent?
Build to Rent generally refers to residential developments constructed specifically to provide long-term rental housing rather than homes that are built primarily for individual sale.
For New Zealand, the policy has two objectives: give investor migrants another qualifying investment option and direct more private capital toward increasing the country’s rental housing supply.
Housing Minister Chris Bishop said the country needs more long-term rental homes that are purpose-built for renters, arguing that the change could bring additional investor capital into new housing development.
Investors Cannot Use the Development as Their Own Home
The change should not be confused with a route to personally acquiring residential property through the Growth category.
Applicants and their family members will not be permitted to live in any Build to Rent development financed through their investment.
This distinction is important. The investor’s capital is being used as an investment into New Zealand’s housing sector, rather than as a mechanism for purchasing a personal residence.
The government has also ruled out direct Build to Rent investment. Only investments made through managed funds approved by Invest New Zealand will be eligible.
Property Was Already Available Under the NZ$10 Million Balanced Category
Property itself is not new to the Active Investor Plus program.
The Balanced category requires a minimum investment of NZ$10 million maintained for five years and already permits a broader range of investments, including qualifying property developments, alongside assets such as listed equities, bonds, managed funds, direct investments, and philanthropy.
The difference is that the NZ$5 million Growth category has, until now, been much more focused on direct investments and approved managed funds.
Adding Build to Rent therefore creates a limited property-related opportunity within the lower-investment Growth category without turning it into a direct property acquisition route.
Growth Has Become the Dominant Investor Category
The significance of the change is amplified by investor demand.
New Zealand refreshed the Active Investor Plus Visa in April 2025, replacing its previous weighted investment model with the Growth and Balanced categories.
Since then, the government says it has received more than 900 applications representing around NZ$5 billion in approved and pipeline investment.
More than 80% of those applications have been under the Growth category.
That means the new Build to Rent option is being introduced into what is already by far the more popular of the two investment tiers.
What Changes for Investors?
For Growth applicants, the NZ$5 million minimum investment does not change.
What changes is the range of investments that can potentially count toward that requirement.
An investor who wants exposure to New Zealand’s rental housing sector will be able to invest through an approved managed fund supporting Build to Rent developments while having that investment recognized toward the Growth category requirements.
Immigration Minister Erica Stanford said the objective is to give investors another option while maintaining the Growth category’s focus on investment supporting business growth, innovation, and productivity.
However, inclusion on the approved investment list does not mean the New Zealand government guarantees the performance of an investment. Immigration New Zealand specifically notes that investors are responsible for conducting their own due diligence.
More Details Are Still to Come
Immigration New Zealand says further information on eligibility requirements, eligible investment structures, and implementation timeframes will be released before the change takes effect in December.
Managed funds participating in the new option will be required to meet standards covering areas including capability, governance, and delivery.
For international investors considering New Zealand, the change does not turn the Growth category into a conventional real estate investment program. Instead, it adds a carefully controlled route for investor capital to participate in the country’s Build to Rent sector while continuing to meet the economic objectives of the Active Investor Plus Visa.
