Read Time: 3-4 minutes
This is one of the most common questions I get from first-home buyers:
“Do we actually need a LIM report or is the one in the docs fine?”
Especially in Auckland, where 95% of listings already come with a LIM report included.
Each property needs to be assessed on a case-by-case basis. You can skip to our Solution section if you want to find out how we assess this.
Most buyers assume the LIM report in the disclosure pack is good enough. It’s got the council stamp, it looks official, and it's free.
So, why pay another $300–$500 to order one in your own name?
Because if something goes wrong and you didn’t order it yourself, you can’t rely on it.
You can’t use the LIM condition in the ADLS sale and purchase agreement without it being in your own name too.
More on this exact process can be found here.
You can’t ask the seller to fix an issue revealed in the LIM. And you definitely can’t sue the council if something is wrong. All because the LIM isn’t addressed to you.
If your buyer relies on the LIM report in the agent’s documents and discovers, after settlement, that there was an unauthorised deck or missing Code Compliance Certificate (CCC), they wear the cost.
And if they try to sell in the future, they'll be stuck explaining a paper trail of red flags to the buyer’s lawyer.
Most LIM report advice is black and white:
"Always get a LIM in your name."
But I don’t think it’s that simple. Some properties don’t need one. Others absolutely do.
Let’s break it down the way I do with clients.
Why?
Because the LIM will only include information after the subdivision. That means:
In this case, buyers are better off spending their due diligence time:
Why?
Because the building history section of the LIM is gold.
It’ll show:
This is information you cannot find online.
And it matters, because if it’s missing and your client doesn’t check, they inherit the problem.
Here’s the LIM report warning we include in our advice to buyers:
Please be aware that unless the Land Information Memorandum (LIM) Report is specifically addressed to you, it cannot be relied upon. This implies that [insert Council] does not have a duty of care towards you regarding the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in the LIM Report. Although a recently issued LIM report is likely to contain all the information available to [insert Council], there is always a possibility that some details may be outdated or missing.
As a lawyer, I always recommend ordering a LIM report because it’s a small cost compared to the size of the asset: $400 vs $1M.
If I don't recommend this, we could get sued by the purchaser.
But the real win is teaching buyers when it’s worth it and when it’s not.
