Public records answer part of every question a buyer has. The rest needs a person who can look at the land, read the documents or give advice. This list pairs each question with both.
| Question | What the records can show | Who confirms it |
|---|---|---|
| How is the block reached, legally? | Road frontage, paper roads, surveyed easement areas and Māori roadways (Lotline’s free lookup). | Your lawyer, from the title’s instruments. The council, for paper roads. |
| What is registered on the title? | Title number, estate, shares in other lots, number of owners, Māori land status. | Order the title and its instruments from LINZ; your lawyer reviews them. |
| Where exactly are the boundaries? | An approximate boundary from LINZ’s parcel map, for identification only. | A licensed cadastral surveyor. |
| What does the council hold on it? | Nothing from the council’s own file. | The council’s LIM: consents, rates, drains and the hazards the council knows about. See what a LIM tells you. |
| Are the buildings sound and consented? | Nothing: records can’t show this. | A building inspector, and the council file through the LIM. |
| Streams, wetlands and the coast? | Mapped streams, wetlands mapped in 2013, and distance to the coast. | The regional council, about consents and rules for water. |
| What has the land been used for? | Land cover since 1996 from satellite mapping. | Your own inspection, and the seller. |
| What natural hazards are mapped? | Council hazard maps where they are open data, with a coverage note where they aren’t. | The council, and the Natural Hazards Commission’s Natural Hazards Portal. |
| Which national rules may apply? | The rules in transition, with their status from the NZ Legislation API. See the national list. | A council planner, for how they apply to this block. |
| What is next door? | Protected land and reserves beside the block, and neighbouring land cover. Not owners’ names. | A visit, and the council for plans nearby. |
| Where are pipes and cables? | Nothing on underground services. | Before U Dig, and the council. |
| What is it worth? | Nothing: Lotline doesn’t value land. | A registered valuer. |
Lotline reports what public records hold, not an inspection of the land. It is not a LIM, legal advice, a building report or a valuation.