Which MPs are property investors?

They have made no secret of their desire to move New Zealanders' investment from property into other vehicles but a third of our members of parliament are property investors themselves.

Monday, May 28th 2012, 12:00AM

by Susan Edmunds

National MP and property investor Chris Tremain

The most prolific investor, Napier MP Chris Tremain, owns five residential investment properties in Napier and Hastings, four apartments in the same area and six commercial investment properties.

Police Minister Anne Tolley and list MP Jian Yang also feature prominently in the investment stakes: Tolley with three shops and two offices in Napier, a section and a property in Ohope and Yang with rental properties in Hillsborough, Flat Bush, Mt Wellington, Newmarket, Te Atatu South and Ranui - all in Auckland.

The properties are revealed in the annual register of pecuniary interests, which was released last week.

Yang said it would not be appropriate to comment. Tremain did not respond to enquiries.

The list reveals property investment is heavily National's domain. Of the more than 30 MPs with investment properties, only 10 are Labour representatives.

Two Labour, three Green and three National Party MPs did not declare ownership of any property at all.

Some of the more unusual properties declared include National MP Cam Calder's interest in a ruin under restoration in France, Todd McClay's jointly-owned property in Brussels, and Green MP David Clendon's Far North bush block.

More than half the MPs have interests in trusts, many of which are not in their own names. That allows them to hold assets without having to reveal them in the public declaration.

The declaration covers gifts worth more than $500, property interest, company directorships, controlling interests and superannuation schemes.

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