Holiday park and camping loans for New Zealand land, cabins, and amenities .

A typical 60 to 200 site NZ holiday park going-concern purchase commonly runs $2M to $8M depending on region, site count, land area, cabin stock, and trading performance. Coastal and lakes-district parks in markets such as Coromandel, Bay of Plenty, Tasman, Marlborough, Taupo, Rotorua, and Wanaka commonly sit at the upper end of this band. Regional and rural parks in less-visited markets sit at the lower end. Larger resort-coast parks with 200+ sites and significant cabin stock can run above $8M. Most of the value commonly sits in the land rather than the trading goodwill.

NZ holiday park going-concern acquisitions commonly attract loan-to-value ratios of 50 to 65 percent on the property security, lower than typical motel LVRs because the per-site trading margin is thinner and the security profile is land-heavy with comparatively limited building improvement. First-time park buyers with no prior accommodation operator experience typically face the lower end of this band. The deposit of 35 to 50 percent commonly comes from existing equity, prior business sale proceeds, or family loan support. Lenders commonly assess serviceability against 2 to 3 years of trading accounts and detailed occupancy data by site type.

NZ holiday park business sales are commonly structured as a zero-rated supply of a going concern under the Goods and Services Tax Act 1985, where both vendor and purchaser are GST-registered, the business is supplied as a continuing operation, and the going-concern treatment is recorded in the sale and purchase agreement. Zero-rating avoids the GST cash-flow impact on the purchase price (no GST charged at settlement, no input tax claim required). The accountant is the right person to confirm whether the going-concern treatment applies to the specific transaction and whether any chattels or non-going-concern components require separate GST treatment.

Holiday Parks New Zealand (HAPNZ) is the industry body representing the NZ holiday park sector. HAPNZ publishes industry context, runs operator training, manages the Holiday Parks of New Zealand booking platform and consumer marketing, and provides member services across advocacy, sustainability, and supplier programmes. HAPNZ membership is voluntary, not a regulatory requirement to operate a holiday park in NZ. Most established parks are HAPNZ members because of the booking platform exposure and the operator network. Going-concern park sales commonly transfer the existing HAPNZ membership to the new operator at settlement.

The Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA), administered through district plans by territorial authorities, governs land use including holiday park operation. Existing parks commonly hold an established land use under the relevant district plan zoning (commonly Rural, Rural Lifestyle, Tourism, or specific Holiday Park zoning). New cabins, amenity blocks, wastewater infrastructure, and any change in site density commonly require resource consent. Lenders commonly want confirmation of the resource consent register and any outstanding conditions before settling a property loan. The accountant and a planner familiar with the local district plan are the right people to confirm position. The Ministry for the Environment publishes the RMA framework in full.

The Self-Contained Motor Vehicles and Camping Act 2023 sets the national framework for freedom camping in NZ, with local territorial authority bylaws specifying where self-contained vehicles can stay overnight outside paid camping grounds. The 2023 Act tightened the self-contained certification requirements (a fixed toilet became mandatory for self-contained certification). Freedom-camping demand commonly competes with paid holiday park sites in popular coastal and lakes-district markets, and lenders commonly want to understand the local bylaw position when assessing trading projections. MBIE publishes guidance on the freedom-camping framework.

Indicative rates on holiday park finance commonly sit in the 7% to 12% per annum band depending on structure, security, and operator profile. Commercial property loans on going-concern park acquisitions for established operators with strong trading sit at the lower end (commonly 7-9%). Cabin asset finance and amenity-block term loans sit in the middle (commonly 9-11%). Working-capital lines for the winter shoulder sit at the upper end (commonly 10-12%). Final rate is set by the lender after assessment. First-time park buyers without prior accommodation operator experience commonly face the upper end of the property loan band.

A GST-registered holiday park operator can typically claim the GST component on new cabin purchases as input tax in the relevant GST return, subject to the accountant's confirmation. Where the cabin is acquired under chattel mortgage, the full GST is typically claimable upfront in the next GST return after settlement. Where it is acquired under finance lease, GST is typically claimed across the rental payments. Cabins acquired second-hand from a non-GST-registered seller may not carry a GST input claim. The accountant is the right person to confirm GST treatment and timing on the specific cabin acquisition.

The Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 places duties on holiday park operators as a Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU) to manage risks to workers and guests. Common holiday park focus areas include playground equipment safety, swimming pool and spa fencing under the Building Act 2004 and Pool Safety Standards, electrical compliance across cabins and powered sites, fire safety in amenity blocks and Building Warrant of Fitness (BWOF), legionella management on hot water systems, water safety where sites are near rivers or beaches, and slip and trip risk management in amenity blocks. WorkSafe NZ publishes guidance on the framework. The PCBU duties extend to contractors carrying out work on the property.

Holiday park expansion commonly requires resource consent under the Resource Management Act 1991 administered by the territorial authority, building consent under the Building Act 2004 for any new amenity block or cabin foundations, and (for some parks) regional council consents for wastewater discharge, water take, and stormwater management. Cabin density increases beyond the existing consented site count commonly trigger a fresh resource consent process, including assessments of effects on traffic, wastewater, and nearby properties. Application timelines commonly run 3 to 12 months depending on complexity and any notification requirements. The accountant and a planner are the right people to confirm scope and timeline for the specific project.

NZ holiday park cash flow runs sharply unevenly across the year, with peak occupancy concentrated in summer (mid-December to early February) and quiet winter shoulders in most regional and resort markets. The summer peak commonly delivers a large share of annual revenue across a 6 to 8 week window. Lenders commonly assess serviceability across a full annual cycle and stress-test against weak shoulder-season performance. Working-capital lines are commonly sized to cover 4 to 6 months of operating cost in the winter shoulder. Trading accounts presented on a 12-month rolling basis and broken down by site type (powered, non-powered, cabin) commonly support the application better than peak-season-only data.

BNZ, ANZ, ASB, and Westpac business banking all maintain commercial property and tourism teams with holiday park and lifestyle property expertise. Heartland Bank carries a specialist holiday park and rural commercial property finance proposition. UDC Finance and other asset-finance specialists fund cabin acquisitions and amenity-block kitchen and laundry equipment under chattel mortgage. Specialist commercial lenders and non-bank finance companies cover going-concern acquisitions where major-bank serviceability calculations are tighter on the land-heavy security profile. A commercial finance broker familiar with the holiday park segment commonly tightens the indicative rate band.

Yes. Holiday park operators with 18 to 36 months of clean trading accounts under their ownership commonly refinance into tighter pricing as occupancy stabilises, equity builds in the property, and operator track-record builds. Refinancing is also commonly used to consolidate multiple loans (property loan, cabin asset finance, amenity-block term loan, working-capital line) into a single facility, or to release equity to fund a cabin rotation programme or amenity-block refurbishment. Early-repayment fees on the original loans, the property revaluation position, and the consent profile are the main considerations. Major-bank refinance commonly becomes accessible after 2 to 3 years of established trading.

Going-concern holiday park acquisition applications commonly require the sale and purchase agreement, last 2 to 3 years of business financial statements from the vendor, last 12 months of bank statements, occupancy and revenue data broken down by site type (powered, non-powered, cabin), the resource consent register and conditions, district plan zoning report, a property valuation commissioned by the lender, BWOF status on amenity blocks, LIM report covering land use and natural hazards, and public liability and property insurance quotes. Operator CV and any prior accommodation, hospitality, or property operator experience commonly form part of the application.

New cabins are commonly financed under chattel mortgage over 7 to 10 year terms, with the full GST typically claimable upfront in the next GST return after the cabin acquisition (where the operator is GST-registered). Cabin depreciation typically uses IRD asset-class rates as a relocatable building or a cabin chattel depending on the build specification (a relocatable cabin sitting on piles or skids commonly depreciates as a chattel; a more permanent cabin foundation commonly depreciates as a building improvement at a different rate). NZ specialist cabin builders such as Eden Cabins, NZ Modular Buildings, and others commonly deliver cabins ready to install, with site work (foundations, water and power connections) handled separately. The accountant is the right person to confirm depreciation treatment on the specific cabin specification.