One of the smallest parcels of land in New Zealand explained

Tuesday, 13 April 2021

At 0.2 square-metres, this section is big enough for a small rubbish bin.

At 0.2 square metres, this section in Dunedin is about the size of a small rubbish bin, and may just be the smallest plot of land in New Zealand. Keith Lynch explains.

Dig around in the Land Information New Zealand (Linz) databases and you’ll find there are hundreds of tiny parcels of land.

They have all sorts of official (and important-sounding) designations. Some are used as a “Service Lane Reserve”, some are for “State Housing Purposes”, a lot are used as segregation strips (a section of land between a road and another section of land).

There is a five square-metre section (more or less) in Hawke’s Bay that was set aside as a conservation area alongside State Highway 2.

A Google Street View image of the section. We've added in the illustration of the section. It may not be exact, but you get the idea.

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You could fit this pot or a small rubbish bin on it.

There is what appears to be a 4 square-metre garage that was leased for 999 years in 2019. These two examples are on the large side.

There are about 300 sections measuring about 1 square-metre, big enough for a small dog to lie comfortably in.

There are about another 300 parcels measuring about 2 square-metres – big enough for a slightly larger dog.

There’s this one section of land though, a tiny triangular fragment at the intersection of State Highway 1 and Clarendon St in Dunedin – not far from the University of Otago.

Interestingly, on the Record of Title for the Dunedin land, there was a correction issued in 2001 to define the size of the land as 0.2 square-metres, not 2 square-metres.

It may just be the smallest parcel of land in the country. It measures 0.2 square metres – big enough to fit this cooking pot or a small rubbish bin.

According to the property’s Record of Title, it is owned by Her Majesty the Queen, but its purpose is “The University of Otago”.

A survey map shows how the section came to be. The plans show the proposal to bring SH1 through sections on Clarendon St, which were subsequently broken up. The section is outlined.

This means that while the Crown technically owns the land, it appears to be the university’s to use.

How did this happen?

In the early 1990s, the government decided to take land to extend State Highway 1 through Dunedin.

It bought up about half a dozen plots of land just to the south of the University of Otago campus, next to Clarendon St.

This one particular section was about 450 square-metres and was severed in two by the new road.

Law Professor David Grinlinton of the University of Auckland looked at the details of Linz land records and explained.

“This appears to be a case of a residual tiny triangular piece of land that was part of a larger piece of land (section 56 on the image below) originally owned by the University of Otago.

“Most of the land was taken by a road proclamation for State Highway 1, which now passes through the land. The taking didn't quite cover the full piece of Section 56 on the South-West side, and so it appears the University of Otago is still the proud owner of that small… triangular piece – maybe enough for a flowerpot!”

So why didn’t the person who drafted the plans just align the road slightly differently? If they moved even a few centimetres to the west, there’d be no need for a separate Record of Title for the tiny fragment.

“For some reason they did not align the road to avoid ending up with that ridiculously small piece of land.

“Maybe he or she had a sense of humour,” Grinlinton says.

A Record of Title (a document that proves who owns the land, among other things) does exist for this little section. But what’s called a “guaranteed title” has not, or could not, be issued.

Essentially, this means the Crown knows the land is there. It knows it’s about .2 square metres. But it can’t guarantee the boundaries are correct without a survey.

So today it is, what Grinlinton calls, a piece of “orphan land”.

What’s the deal with all these orphan parcels?

Generally speaking, the Crown can use a law called the Public Works Act to take ownership of land to build the likes of roads, railways, cycleways and so on.

Sometimes, something called a severance takes place, where a piece of land is diced up into smaller sections.

In this particular case, the land was essentially diced up into three different parts. One for the road; two bits left over.

In some cases, the government will just buy up the smaller patches. In others, it won’t.

“The government would not want to take more land than is necessary as they need to compensate people under the Public Works Act. Anything that’s not taken usually remains with the original owner,” Grinlinton says.

So often these tiny residual patches of “orphan” land are left over, and a Record of Title is issued.

Can anything be done with these sections?

Sometimes a use can be found. For example, a sliver of land may be big enough for the owner to erect a billboard.

But generally speaking, the tiny sections are too small for practical use.

“In this case, it would have no economic use,” Grinlinton says. “It’s just a strange relic.”

Conceivably, the owner of adjacent land could approach the Crown to buy an “orphan” parcel. Or the Crown could proactively decide to sell up. But that’s not necessarily a cheap process, and a survey may be required.

“That can have a cost and the question is whether it’s worthwhile for a property of this size,” Craig Harris, Commissioner of Crown Lands, says.

So what ends up happening if these little patches of land sit there, with their own title, unused? That’s their lot.

The future of the Dunedin section

Stuff sought comment from the University of Otago on the future of the land. We got this reply.

“We haven’t developed it as it’s a bit small, being large enough for one person as long as they are standing – might be big enough for a small rubbish bin – so it is fair to say the land will stay as-is.”

An earlier version of this story incorrectly said the small parcel of land in Dunedin was 20 square centimetres. It is 0.2 square metres.