New Zealand

Registering Property in

New Zealand

Listed below is a detailed summary of the steps, time and cost involved in registering property, assuming a standardized case of an entrepreneur who wants to purchase land and a building that is already registered and free of title dispute.

The information appearing on this page was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 183 economies. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2011.

  • Standard Property Transfer

  • Property Value: NZD 2,226,622.74
  • City: Auckland

About This Topic

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Obtain a Land Information Memorandum

The Land Information Memorandum (LIM) is not a legal requirement for registration, but it is an essential contractual requirement in practice. The LIM provides information on the legality of the building, building permits, restrictions on land use, rates, special characteristics of the land, drainage, etc. and is obtained from local authorities. A LIM may be ordered and is sent to the enquirer within 10 days.
1 day NZD 220 - NZD 250 for personal attendance at local council offices
2 Register title through Land Information New Zealand

The LINZ system is an online property registration system operated by licensed conveyancers. Conveyancers are authorized to certify land transfer documents on behalf of their clients and to submit them electronically to LINZ for registration. Confirmation is usually returned online within minutes. LINZ currently operates a dual system:
- An online land title registration system which can only be accessed by lawyers and licensed conveyancers.
- A paper based registration system (via LINZ processing centers)

It is possible to register manually through one of the Land Titles Offices. In this case, it would take 15-20 days and cost NZD 150 (NZD 60 per document for paper-based or electronic image-based registration requiring manual validation by registry personnel ). Conveyancers and or lawyer’s fees, if used, would be approximately NZD 2,000. There is a cost to the vendor which involves selling a property through a real estate agent which would cost up to 4% of the agreement. A person could privately advertise the sale of their property. The lawyer/conveyancer is required to certify that documents are correct and in order for registration.

The documentation shall include:
Personal identification
Written authority for the conveyancer to register the property electronically
Signed transfer of property

 1 day (Auto registration instruments are processed instanteous.) Note: the LINZ performance standard for paper based registration, 90% are registered within 10 working days. Currently transactions are being processing transactions within 6 working days. NZD 52.13 registration fee (for online registration) plus NZD 1,500 for conveyancer fee.
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