Not all New Zealand property information is held by Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand (LINZ). Read below to find out more before you start searching Land Record Search.
Record of title
Property titles give an accurate and up-to-date picture of legal ownership of land in New Zealand. They show a property's owners, legal description and the rights and restrictions registered against the property title – for example, a mortgage, easement or covenant.
There are 3 types of title you can order:
- Current record of title shows the current owners, legal description, registered rights and restrictions (such as a mortgage) and includes a plan or diagram of the land.
- Guaranteed search shows the same information as the current record of title as well as any instruments (interests) lodged with LINZ but not yet processed or registered against the title.
- Historic record of title shows all interests that have been registered against the current title since this title was created. This may include historical interests which no longer show on the current title. There is a chain of historical titles for most land, which means the title may not show all interests ever registered over the land – the title only shows interests since the specific title was issued. Depending on the period you are interested in, you may need to order prior historic titles separately to see historical interests registered before the current title's date of issue.
Statutory actions
If land is held for a specific purpose (such as a road) but does not have a title, you will see the statutory action information instead. A statutory action explains what the purpose is and how it was created. This is recorded against the land when there is a requirement in legislation to show this information. If you want any further information about the land, a good place to start is by finding what created the statutory action, such as ordering the Survey Plan or looking at the information in the gazette notice.
Instruments
Instruments (or Documents) record a transaction that has been completed for a particular property. Examples of instruments that appear on a title can include:
- transfer of a property from the current owners to new owners
- mortgage – when a bank holds security over a property
- easement – such as having a right of way for access.
Surveys
Cadastral survey plans show a property’s legal boundaries, area and dimensions. There are 4 main types:
- Deposited plans (DPs) are the plans deposited when the title was created. This could be a simple plan of the property's boundaries, area and dimensions, a detailed survey plan, or a combination of both.
- Survey office plans (SOs) record all survey observations (bearing and distances) required to determine the correct position of the boundaries of a lot or section. They show these observations, together with underlying Record of Title boundaries, legal roads, and other information necessary to comply with the statutory requirements applying at that time.
- Māori land plans (MLs) are Māori land subdivisions or partitions.
- Land transfer plans (LTs) have been approved by Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand under the Land Transfer Act, but have not had new titles created. They become deposited plans after titles are created from them.
Information not held by LINZ
Most older records (other than land title documents)
These are now held by Archives New Zealand – see the online Collections search database.
Māori land records
These are held by the Māori Land Court.
Property value
Title and survey records do not contain information about the value of the property – see Other land record providers.
Other property information
- LINZ does not provide information about property sales and does not prepare due diligence reports. Contact a lawyer or property agent.
- LINZ cannot provide copies of building consents, resource consents, or Land Information Memorandum (LIM) reports. Contact your local council.