Lease approval process

Stage 1 – Approval of property intentions

Discuss your property portfolio intentions with the Government Property Office (GPO)

• Mandated agencies must have GPO approval before renewing, ending or starting to look for a new lease.
• For most agencies, this approval will be part of ongoing planning discussions, rather than a one‑off event triggered by lease dates.
• Ultimately, where GPO confirms your intentions are aligned with the direction set in the Government Office Programme, the approval process will be simple.
  Government Office Programme
• If we know that a key lease event is approaching within three years, GPO will contact your agency directly to discuss your intentions.
• This helps ensure sufficient lead time where circumstances or priorities have shifted.
• It’s important you discuss your property plans and portfolio intentions with your GPO Senior Portfolio Manager before beginning any formal engagement with the market.

Contact your portfolio manager

Lease renewal or disposal

If you are renewing a lease or exiting a lease without replacing space, and early discussions with GPO indicate this will be approved:

• Complete and return the appropriate form to notify us formally of your intentions.
• GPO will aim to respond within 10 working days to confirm you can proceed as intended.
• If early discussions with GPO indicate that renewal or disposal may not the best option at this time, your Senior Portfolio Manager will work through alternative options with you and agree next steps.

Lease renewal or disposal forms

Approval to pursue new lease

If you are proposing to acquire new space, your Senior Portfolio Manager will discuss:

• How your proposed intentions align with the Government Office Programme.
• Availability of any suitable surplus space within the government portfolio.

If you both agree that lease acquisition is the best option, you can proceed to Stage 2. If not, your Senior Portfolio Manager will work through alternative options with you and agree next steps.

Stage 2 – Approval to pursue new lease

Once you have GPO approval to acquire a new lease, you can:

1. Engage with the market

Your agency – or GPO, where we have agreed to act on your behalf – engages with the market to explore options for new space.

2. Identify and seek endorsement for a building

•    Find a space that meets your agency’s requirements.
•    Seek internal endorsement.

3. Seek GPO approval to proceed to lease negotiations

• Once you have internal endorsement of the selected building, complete and return the lease acquisition form to GPO.
• If you are exiting a lease and entering a new one, you will also need to complete the lease disposal form.
• GPO will assess the details provided in the form against the following criteria:
  • Commercial terms including lease length, renewal options, rent review mechanisms.
  • Availability of other suitable surplus space and/or co-location opportunities within the government portfolio
  • Alignment with forecast region-wide demand and wider government property objectives.
  • Value for money and whole-of-life cost considerations (including fit-out cost).
  • Building characteristics including seismic rating, NABERSNZ, general condition and suitability.
    • NABERSNZ
    • Seismic guidance for government office accommodation
• We aim to process approval requests within 10 working days. If we need extra information, it can take longer.
• Once we have reviewed your request, we'll send you confirmation of the outcome.
• If approved, you can develop your business case and prepare for negotiations with the landlord.

Note: GPO is no longer accepting retrospective lease approval requests. Where an agency hasn’t sought prior approval, this will be recorded and noted in our regular governance and ministerial reporting.

Negotiating leases

Lease forms

Lease acquisition, renewal and disposal forms.