New law removes disproportionate penalty facing real estate agents nationwide
New Zealand real estate agents will no longer face disqualification of up to five years for late continuing professional development (CPD) completion or overdue fees, following the passage of the Regulatory Systems (Occupational Regulation) Amendment Bill.
The legislation amends the Real Estate Agents Act 2008 to remove what the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) has long characterised as a disproportionate penalty, out of step with the scale of the underlying non-compliance.
REINZ, which represents almost 17,000 real estate professionals nationwide, made a formal submission to Parliament and was consulted throughout the amendment process — describing the reform as a long-standing priority and "a significant win for the profession."
Collaboration behind the change
REINZ credited Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee for driving the removal of the penalty, alongside advocacy from the Real Estate Authority (REA), the industry's regulator, and support from the Ministry of Justice.
McKee was blunt about the case for change when the bill passed its final reading. The penalty was "out of step, out of proportion," she said, adding that "no other regulated profession has such a harsh penalty for failing to complete CPD."
The institute framed the change as evidence of effective cooperation between government and industry, arguing the previous rules produced unjust outcomes disproportionate to the actual breach involved.
CPD obligations remain firmly in place
Importantly, the changes don't loosen professional standards themselves. CPD remains a mandatory obligation enforced by the REA, and REINZ reiterated its continued support for high professional standards and ongoing education across the sector.
The institute's position is that consequences for non-compliance should be proportionate rather than punitive, and it says the amended framework now strikes that balance.
REINZ says it will keep working with the Ministry of Justice and the REA on implementation, as part of its broader push to maintain trust in the profession — a signal to advisers that the underlying compliance expectations agents operate under aren't changing, only the severity of the penalty for administrative slip-ups.
Beyond CPD, the reform has one more implication for advisers: the same legislation broadens conveyancers' ability to undertake conveyancing work, a change McKee says was "strongly supported by the conveyancing community" and one likely to affect settlement processes advisers coordinate around.
It follows a pattern of regulatory proportionality reviews from McKee's office — McKee had similarly pushed for AML/CFT rules to become "smarter, more proportionate, and focused on genuine risk," a reform REINZ general counsel Melisa Beight also endorsed as easing "unnecessary complexity for low-risk transactions."
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