Christchurch property buyers and owners now have access to clearer, more consistent information about natural hazards when requesting information from the Council about land.

The Council has made updates to the way it supplies natural hazard information in Land Information Memorandums (LIMs) as part of recent changes from the Government to the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act (LGOIMA).

LIMs: What’s changed?

• Clearer information: LIMs now have a dedicated natural hazards section.
• Hazard maps and online resources: Where available, links to these have been included on LIMs for easy access.
• Consistency across councils: A standardised format will make LIMs easier to read and compare.

Natural hazards, as defined by the Act, include hazards such as coastal inundation, erosion, earthquakes, flooding, landslides, subsidence, tsunamis, volcanic and geothermal hazards, wind, drought, and fire.

Council General Manager Strategy, Planning and Regulatory John Higgins says the changes mean LIMs will provide a clearer picture of any natural hazard information known to the Council for a given property, helping people who are looking into the suitability of land for any intended purpose.

“These improvements are about giving people natural hazard information in a way that’s easier to understand – whether you’re buying a home, planning a build, or considering the readiness of your home or business for natural hazards.

“Many properties in the district already have information on their LIMs about one or more known natural hazards, and our recent updates have mostly been about clarifying that existing information rather than adding information about new natural hazards,” says Mr Higgins.

A LIM is a summary of information held by the Council about matters affecting a property at the point in time at which it is requested. It does not provide a complete picture of all the characteristics of the land, as some of that information may not be known to the Council.

Alongside natural hazard information, LIMs can also include building permits, consents, notices and orders, water services information, special features, and information about the use of the land.

The recent amendments to the LGOIMA, together with new regulations for LIMs, are specifically aimed at standardising and making clearer the natural hazard information that needs to be included in LIMs, the layout of that information, and the way it should be described.

In addition to the changes, any relevant property files held by Christchurch City Council will now also be supplied alongside all LIM requests.

Until 24 December 2025, people can request from the Council a free electronic copy of any information included specifically in the natural hazards section of a property’s LIM. After that time, they will need to pay the usual fee to receive the information as part of a full LIM request.

Requests for LIM natural hazards information can be made by emailing LIMNotationsNaturalHazards@ccc.govt.nz.