Local Government (Natural Hazard Information in Land Information Memoranda) Regulations 2025
2025/68
Local Government (Natural Hazard Information in Land Information Memoranda) Regulations 2025
Cindy Kiro, Governor-General
Order in Council
At Wellington this 14th day of April 2025
Present:
Her Excellency the Governor-General in Council
These regulations are made under section 55 of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987—
(a)
on the advice and with the consent of the Executive Council; and
(b)
on the recommendation of the Minister of Local Government made in accordance with section 55(1A) and (1B) of that Act.
Contents
Regulations
1 Title
These regulations are the Local Government (Natural Hazard Information in Land Information Memoranda) Regulations 2025.
2 Commencement
These regulations come into force on 17 October 2025.
Regulation 2: editorial change made by the PCO, on 9 May 2025, under sections 86(1) and 87(m) and (q) of the Legislation Act 2019 (2019 No 58).
3 Interpretation
In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires,—
district plan—
(a)
has the meaning given in section 43AA of the Resource Management Act 1991; and
(b)
includes a proposed district plan that has been notified under clause 5(1)(b) of Schedule 1 of that Act
land information memorandum or LIM means a land information memorandum under Part 6A of the Act
natural hazard information means information that is contained in a land information memorandum under section 44B of the Act
natural hazard section means a section of a land information memorandum that only includes information relating to natural hazards in relation to the land concerned.
4 Transitional, savings, and related provisions
The transitional, savings, and related provisions (if any) set out in Schedule 1 have effect according to their terms.
5 Application
These regulations apply to a LIM that a territorial authority issues after receiving an application for a LIM on or after the date on which these regulations come into force.
Obligations on territorial authorities
6 Limit on obligations on territorial authority
These regulations do not require a territorial authority—
(a)
to prepare a risk assessment that relates to the land concerned; or
(b)
to undertake any further analysis that relates to the land concerned; or
(c)
to search for, or make inquiries as to the existence of, information about natural hazards in relation to the land concerned, other than information that the territorial authority is required to include under section 44B of the Act.
7 Minimum requirements for LIMs
(1)
A territorial authority must ensure that—
(a)
each LIM it issues includes a natural hazard section; and
(b)
the natural hazard section includes the information about natural hazards that is required under section 44B of the Act; and
(c)
each LIM it issues complies with this regulation and regulations 8 to 14.
(2)
In accordance with section 44A(3), a natural hazard section may include such other information about natural hazards as the territorial authority considers, at its discretion, to be relevant.
8 Content of natural hazard section
(1)
The natural hazard section of a LIM—
(a)
must include—
(i)
the natural hazard information provided under regulation 12 under a heading that identifies the information as being sourced from the territorial authority’s district plan; and
(ii)
the natural hazard information provided under regulation 13 under a heading that identifies the information as relating to the Building Act 2004; and
(iii)
all other natural hazard information about the land concerned under headings that reflect the nature of the hazards (for example, headings for earthquakes, wind, or flooding); and
(b)
may include 1 or more subheadings under a heading.
(2)
If natural hazard information could be included under more than one heading under subclause (1), the territorial authority must include the information under the heading that it considers to be most appropriate.
(3)
If a territorial authority includes natural hazard information in a LIM other than in the natural hazard section,—
(a)
the natural hazard information need not be repeated in the natural hazard section; but
(b)
the natural hazard section (under the relevant heading specified in subclause (1)) must refer to where that information is included.
9 Minimum requirements in relation to technical report
(1)
This regulation applies if, for the purposes of providing information about natural hazards under section 44B of the Act, a territorial authority refers the recipient of the LIM to information that is contained in a technical report.
(2)
The information included in the natural hazard section of the LIM must include at least the following details in relation to the report:
(a)
the name of the person or entity that commissioned the report:
(b)
the purpose of the report:
(c)
the scope of the report (for example, whether the report relates to only 1 property, to 2 or more properties, or to a broader area or community):
(d)
where or how to access the report:
(e)
the title of the report:
(f)
the date of the report:
(g)
the name of the person or entity that prepared the report.
(3)
For the purposes of subclause (2)(d), the LIM may include a link to a publicly available internet site or online portal that provides access to the report.
10 LIM must include certain maps
(1)
This regulation applies if information about natural hazards that is required to be included in a LIM under section 44B of the Act is included in a map that—
(a)
the territorial authority—
(i)
has produced or commissioned; or
(ii)
has received from a regional council under section 44C of the Act; and
(b)
shows the natural hazards that affect or have the potential to affect the land concerned; and
(c)
the territorial authority considers will assist the recipient of the LIM to understand the hazard identified.
(2)
The LIM must include—
(a)
a copy of the map; or
(b)
a link to a publicly available internet site or online portal that provides access to the map.
11 LIM must include plain language summary in certain circumstances
(1)
A territorial authority must include a plain language summary of a piece of natural hazard information contained in a LIM if—
(a)
the territorial authority—
(i)
produced or commissioned the piece of natural hazard information; and
(ii)
considers a summary would assist the recipient of the LIM to understand a natural hazard identified in the LIM; or
(b)
the territorial authority received—
(i)
the piece of natural hazard information from a regional council; and
(ii)
a plain language summary of the information from the regional council.
(2)
The obligation in subclause (1)(a) does not apply in relation to a piece of natural hazard information that was known to the territorial authority before the date on which these regulations come into force.
(3)
In this regulation, plain language means language that is—
(a)
appropriate to the intended audience of the LIM; and
(b)
clear, concise, and well organised.
12 LIM must include information contained in district plan
(1)
The natural hazard information contained in a LIM must—
(a)
note whether the territorial authority’s district plan contains any information about a natural hazard that affects, or has the potential to affect, the land concerned; and
(b)
if the district plan contains such information, direct the recipient of the LIM to the relevant part of the district plan; and
(c)
if the information noted under paragraph (a) includes a map, include that map.
(2)
For the purposes of subclause (1)(c), the LIM must include—
(a)
a copy of the map; or
(b)
a link to a publicly available internet site or online portal that provides access to the map.
(3)
To avoid doubt, the territorial authority is not required to include a map, or a link to a map, in a LIM under this regulation if the territorial authority has included it under regulation 10.
13 LIM must include information relating to various notices
(1)
The natural hazard information contained in a LIM must—
(a)
specify whether a notification of a building consent that relates to a natural hazard on the land concerned has been provided—
(i)
under section 73 of the Building Act 2004; or
(ii)
in accordance with section 434 of the Building Act 2004, under section 36(2) of the Building Act 1991 or section 641A of the Local Government Act 1974; and
(b)
note whether a sign or notice under section 133BT of the Building Act 2004 that relates to a building on the land concerned has been placed on or near the building; and
(c)
if a sign or notice described in paragraph (b) has been placed on or near the building, note whether a subsequent decision has been made under that Act to remove the sign or notice.
(2)
For the purposes of subclause (1)(b), a sign or notice must only be noted in the LIM if the sign or notice indicates that—
(a)
no person may enter or occupy the building; or
(b)
access to the building is restricted to 1 or more parts of the building; or
(c)
access to the building or to a part of the building is restricted to supervised short-term entry.
14 Natural hazard information provided by regional council
(1)
This regulation applies when a LIM includes natural hazard information provided by a regional council to a territorial authority under section 44C of the Act.
(2)
The territorial authority must ensure that—
(a)
it does not alter the information provided by the regional council; and
(b)
the LIM notes which information the regional council has provided; and
(c)
the LIM includes a link to the regional council’s online portal for information about natural hazards, if the council has such a portal.
Obligation on regional councils
15 Limit on obligation on regional council
These regulations do not require a regional council—
(a)
to prepare a risk assessment in relation to any land; or
(b)
to undertake any further analysis in relation to any land; or
(c)
to search for, or make inquiries as to the existence of, information about natural hazards in relation to any land, other than information that the regional council is required to provide under section 44C of the Act; or
(d)
to provide a territorial authority with information about natural hazards in response to each application for a LIM that the territorial authority receives.
16 How regional council must provide information about natural hazards
(1)
A regional council that provides information about natural hazards to a territorial authority under section 44C of the Act—
(a)
must provide the information in a manner that enables the territorial authority to comply with the Act and these regulations; but
(b)
if the information is available on a publicly available internet site or online portal, may provide the information by providing access to that site or portal.
(2)
Without limiting the obligation in subclause (1),—
(a)
if the information is contained in a technical report, the regional council must provide the territorial authority with the information required under regulation 9; and
(b)
if the information is contained in a map, the regional council must provide the territorial authority with the information in a manner that enables the territorial authority to comply with regulation 10; and
(c)
the regional council must provide the territorial authority with a plain language summary of the information only if—
(i)
the regional council produced or commissioned the relevant piece of information; and
(ii)
the regional council considers the summary will assist the recipient of the LIM to understand the relevant natural hazard.
(3)
However, subclause (2)(b) applies only if—
(a)
the regional council produced or commissioned the map; and
(b)
the regional council considers the map will assist the recipient of the LIM to understand the hazard identified in the map.
Schedule 1 Transitional, savings, and related provisions
Part 1 Provisions relating to these regulations as made
There are no transitional, savings, or related provisions in these regulations as made.
Rachel Hayward,
Clerk of the Executive Council.
Explanatory note
This note is not part of the regulations but is intended to indicate their general effect.
A territorial authority prepares a land information memorandum (LIM) to provide information to a prospective buyer of a property within the authority’s district. These regulations, which come into force 6 months after being notified in the Gazette, relate to information about natural hazards that must be contained in a LIM. They set out the following requirements for providing natural hazard information in a LIM (in addition to the requirements in section 44B of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (the Act)):
various headings relating to types of natural hazards:
minimum details in relation to technical reports:
maps (including maps from the territorial authority’s district plan):
a plain language summary of some of the information:
specified notifications or assessments provided under the Building Act 2004 or other related enactments.
These regulations also require regional councils to provide natural hazard information to territorial authorities in a way that means territorial authorities are able to comply with the Act and these regulations.
The regulations do not require a territorial authority or regional council to prepare risk assessments or undertake further analysis for each property.
Regulatory impact statement
The Department of Internal Affairs produced a regulatory impact statement on 6 June 2024 to help inform the decisions taken by the Government relating to the contents of this instrument.
A copy of this regulatory impact statement can be found at—
Date of notification in Gazette: 17 April 2025.
These regulations are administered by the Department of Internal Affairs.