Crown Property information files

LINZ holds historic Crown property paper files from its predecessor organisations, such as the Department of Survey & Land Information (DoSLI), Department of Lands and Survey, and the Ministry of Works.

These files are mostly used when Crown agencies are acquiring or disposing of land. Accredited suppliers working on behalf of those organisations can access the paper files through the ELFI database.

While the historic Crown property paper files are not generally available to the public, requests can be made to LINZ for information. For instance, you might wish to research your family’s connection with land that is or was once owned by the Crown.

Some other Crown property paper files are held by Archives New Zealand – these are searchable online via Archway.

Note that the Crown property paper files record information about acquisition and transfer of land to and from the Crown, not about activities that have been carried out on the land while it was in Crown ownership. If you are looking for information about land held by the Crown for a particular purpose (eg for a school), you will likely get more information from the Crown agency that governs that activity (eg the Ministry of Education), or from Archives New Zealand.

The files date back to the 1850s for all Crown property – some of which is held in title, much of it not.

For more information, contact customerservice@linz.govt.nz.

See also Other land record providers.