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Guides to New Zealand property information
Property information in New Zealand is spread across councils, government agencies and national datasets, and each source answers a narrower question than it first appears to. These guides explain what that information means, how PropertyKete presents it in a report, and where its limits are.
They are written for the early research phase — before an offer, or before deciding what needs a closer look from a professional. Each guide says which cities PropertyKete currently holds data for on its topic, and points to the people who can answer what a dataset cannot.
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The whole research process in one place, stage by stage.
Reading hazard findings
What a mapped hazard layer can and cannot say about one property, finding by finding.
Reading flood risk on a New Zealand property report
Flood maps are modelled, not measured, and a property can sit outside every one of them and still take water. This explains what each flood layer means, what a result does and does not establish, and who can answer the questions it raises.
Read the guide →Overland flow paths: what they mean for an Auckland property
An overland flow path is the route surface water takes across the ground in heavy rain. This explains what a mapped flow path affects, what it does not prove, how to check one, and who can answer the questions it raises.
Read the guide →Active faults and property due diligence in New Zealand
What it means when a mapped active fault is found near a property, what the mapping can and cannot resolve, why it is not a prediction that an earthquake will happen, and what to do next.
Read the guide →Council records
The official documents a buyer can request, and how they differ from a report.
Alongside the guides
- Worked examples — real reports read finding by finding, including what each finding does not prove.
- Coverage by city — which checks return a result in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, and which are not run anywhere.
- Data sources — every dataset PropertyKete holds, who publishes it, its licence and refresh schedule.
Looking at a particular property?
Search an address to see which of these checks return a result there, with the source and date of each dataset. It is a starting point for research, not a LIM, a valuation, or professional advice.
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