There is a document sitting between you and some of the most expensive mistakes you can make in property. Most first home buyers know it exists. Far fewer know what to do with it once it lands in their inbox.
A Land Information Memorandum(LIM) report is one of the most important documents in the buying process and also one of the most misunderstood. People try to skip it entirely to save a few hundred dollars, or they flip through it, see no obvious red flags, and assume they are in the clear. Neither approach is ideal, and this is typically a condition imposed by the banks.
This blog breaks down what a LIM is, what each section means, what to watch out for, and just as importantly, what a LIM cannot tell you.
What a LIM Report Actually Is
A LIM is a report prepared by your local council that summarises everything they hold on record about a specific property. It is not an inspection. It is not an opinion. It is a factual record of what the council knows, issued under section 44A of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987, which requires councils to provide one to anyone who requests it.
Think of it as the council’s version of the property’s history. Some of that history is straightforward. Some of it is exactly the kind of thing a seller would prefer you never found.
A LIM covers building consents and whether they received a Code Compliance Certificate, the property’s zoning, flood risk, land stability issues, stormwater and sewerage arrangements, heritage status, and current rates. It reflects what the council held on file on the day it was issued — not what may have changed since, and not anything that was never reported to them in the first place.
Cost and turnaround time vary by council. Most standard residential LIMs sit somewhere between $200 and $550, with Auckland and Wellington at the higher end. Standard processing takes up to 10 working days, though most councils offer an urgent or fast-track option for an additional fee, which matters if your due diligence window is short. Given the size of the financial decision you are making, it is a modest amount to spend.
What You Will Find Inside
When the report arrives, it can look a little overwhelming. There is no need to read it front to back like a legal brief. It helps far more to understand what each section is actually telling you.
Building consents and Code Compliance Certificates show what work has been done on the property and whether it was signed off properly. A consent means the work was approved to go ahead. A Code Compliance Certificate, or CCC, confirms the finished work was inspected and met the building code at the time. When a consent appears with no corresponding CCC, that is the first question you need to ask and it deserves a direct answer before you go any further.
Natural hazards cover what the council knows about the land itself. Flood risk, liquefaction, erosion, land instability, subsidence, and contamination can all appear here. Properties in flood management areas, liquefaction zones, or erosion-prone land warrant careful attention, and any notices to fix or dangerous building notices listed in this section are serious. It is also worth knowing that natural hazard disclosure requirements across New Zealand councils were tightened in 2025, meaning some properties are now showing risk notations that would not have appeared in a LIM a few years ago.
Zoning and district plan information tells you what the land can legally be used for. If you are buying with plans to add a sleepout, subdivide, or build a minor dwelling later on, this section tells you whether that is even permitted under current rules. Heritage listings, protected tree covenants, and other overlays also appear here and can significantly affect what you can do with the property down the track.
Rates and valuation show the current rateable value and any outstanding rates. In some circumstances, rates arrears transfer with the property, so it is worth reading this carefully. Your lawyer will check this as part of their title review, but understanding what you are looking at is always useful.
Stormwater and sewerage confirm how the property connects to public services and identify any private drains crossing the site. Drainage easements can affect where future building work is possible and who is responsible for maintenance costs if something goes wrong.
What to Watch For
Not everything that shows up in a LIM is a reason to walk away, but certain things demand serious thought before you proceed.
The single biggest red flag is unconsented building work. If a previous owner added a bedroom, a deck, or a sleepout without getting council approval, that problem transfers to you on settlement. The council has the authority to require you to either bring the work up to code or remove it entirely. Retrospective consent is not always possible, and some work simply cannot be signed off after the fact regardless of its quality.
Consider a practical example. Sarah and James find a three-bedroom home in South Auckland that ticks every box. The photos show a well-finished rumpus room at the back of the house with new flooring and insulation. The LIM arrives during due diligence and shows a consent for a garage issued in 2009, but no consent for the conversion to living space, and no CCC for the original garage build either. Their lawyer flags both. The seller had done the conversion themselves without involving the council. Getting it sorted would require an application for retrospective consent, a building inspector to assess the work, and potentially significant remediation if it failed to meet current code. What looked like extra living space suddenly looked like a liability. They negotiated a price reduction to account for the risk and went in with eyes open.
That kind of situation is more common than most buyers expect, particularly in older homes that have passed through the hands of several DIY-inclined owners over the years.
Natural hazard notations deserve the same level of attention. Insurance companies use the information in LIM reports when assessing risk, and properties in known flood zones or liquefaction areas can face higher premiums, increased excesses, or, in some cases, exclusions on certain hazard types altogether. Checking insurability during your due diligence window rather than after you have gone unconditional is simply good practice.
What a LIM Cannot Tell You
This is the part most buyers overlook, and it matters just as much as what the LIM does contain.
A LIM only reflects what the council knows. If a weathertightness issue was never reported to them, it will not appear. A seller who renovated a bathroom without consent in 2015 and never told anyone will not have that work show up anywhere in your report. The LIM captures disclosed information, not the full picture of what has happened to the property.
This is precisely why a LIM and a pre-purchase building inspection are not substitutes for each other. The LIM tells you what the council holds on record. A building inspection tells you the physical condition of the property right now. A clean LIM does not mean the roof is not leaking, and a detailed building report does not tell you whether the deck was consented. Both are necessary. Using one without the other leaves a real gap in your due diligence.
The council property file is also separate from the LIM and contains more detailed records including original plans and consent documentation. Most councils allow buyers to inspect the property file for a small additional fee. For older homes or properties with a long renovation history, reviewing the file alongside the LIM gives you considerably more context and is worth the extra step.
When to Get One and How to Use It
As early as you can during the due diligence process. Most buyers include a LIM condition in their sale and purchase agreement, giving time for the report to be processed and reviewed before the condition date. If issues arise, depending on how your agreement is structured, you may be able to negotiate repairs, seek a price reduction, or withdraw from the sale altogether.
Buying at auction changes the equation significantly. Auction purchases are unconditional, which means the LIM, building inspection, and finance approval all need to be completed before you bid. You can order a LIM on any property before auction day, regardless of whether you own it, and experienced buyers do not skip this step.
Your lawyer or conveyancer is the right person to help you make sense of anything that raises a question. A conversation with them about a consent gap or a hazard notation before settlement will cost considerably less than discovering the same issue after.
The Bottom Line
A LIM is not a guarantee that a property is problem-free. It is a record of what the council knows, and the gap between that and the full picture of a property can sometimes be significant. Used alongside a building inspection, a thorough title review, and proper legal advice, it becomes one of the most useful tools you have in the buying process.
For a relatively small outlay, it can protect you from inheriting someone else’s compliance problem, overpaying for a property carrying hidden risk, or finding yourself uninsurable just before settlement. That is a reasonable return on a few hundred dollars.
Want to explore the numbers on a suburb before you start searching? Check out our tools here to get a clearer picture of where values sit and what the data is saying before you make an offer.
And, if you have questions about how your finances stack up for a purchase, reach out at info@nextmoveproperty.co.nz and we can point you in the right direction.
References
- Auckland Council — How to order a LIM
- Settled.govt.nz — Buying process and due diligence guidance
- Colliers Otago — LIM report guide for property buyers
- NZ Flood Risk Guide — Natural hazard disclosure changes 2025