Jean Hubbard, the Timaru widow of Allan Hubbard who founded the now-failed South Canterbury Finance empire, has appeared as part of a land sale just approved by the Overseas Investment Office.

Retrospective consent has been granted for the $6.2 million sale of a block of Canterbury land in 2012, in a deal with British and New Zealand interests.

Margaret Jane Hubbard, also known as Jean, was married to Hubbard, late founder of South Canterbury Finance.

The firm's 2011 collapse led to a $1.5 billion taxpayer bail-out. Her name has now appeared - along with the Ashburton District Council and British man Andrew Phillip Turney - as the vendors of two blocks of Canterbury land.

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Assets involved were a stake in Balrath Partnership, listed as owning 780ha of land in the Canterbury rural area of Mayfair and a further 14ha at Arundel Rakaia Gorge Rd near Ashburton. Consent was given for assets to be sold to British and local interests - including Turney - for $6.2 million.

"The applicant is a partnership that owns Balrath Farm, which is used for dairy farming. Two transactions have been granted consent retrospectively," the OIO said.