Māori Land Development Schemes And Amalgamations, An Erosion Of Proprietary Rights In Māori Freehold Land

Abstract

In the early twentieth century, implementation of Māori Land Development Schemes eroded landowner proprietary rights in Māori freehold land. This was a causative factor in the decline of Māori home ownership rates. Historically, implementation of Māori land development schemes and subsequent amalgamation of adjoining land have, in effect, locked up Māori freehold land. These legal mechanisms have disenfranchised successive generations of landowners, creating a legal barrier to realising landowners’ use of Māori freehold land for housing and constraining a potential solution to the current housing crisis.