Costs to request property files in line to rise

The upcoming financial year could see Invercargill and Bluff residents paying more to request property files and Land Information Memorandum (LIM reports).

Public consultation on Invercargill City Council’s 2026/2027 Fees and Charges schedule opened on 25 March.

For 2026/2027, the costs associated with requesting LIM reports and property files had been separated from other building control fees within the schedule, to make the costs associated with these clearer and simpler for the community to access.

Councillor Trish Boyle, the Chair of Council’s Finance and Policy Committee, said the proposed increases better reflected the full cost of providing these services to the community, and would enable Council’s Property Records and Building Control teams to progress towards operating on a full cost-recovery basis.

“It’s critical that our organisation treads a fine line between recovering the true costs of the services it provides to the community by charging the users of these services, or by spreading these across our rating base,” she said.

“Striking the right balance is always difficult, but particularly so in a challenging financial environment. This is not about generating additional revenue. It is about ensuring we recoup the real costs associated with the Council services our community uses.”

The charge for 10-day residential Land Information Memorandum (LIM) reports was proposed to increase in 2026/2027 to $510, up from $485 in 2025/2026.

Meanwhile, the fee for more complex LIM reports – including industrial, commercial, and multi-dwelling properties – would remain the same as the previous year, at $700.

Counci’s Acting Chief Executive Trudie Hurst said a number of factors had driven the need to increase LIM report costs.

“Legislative changes that impact LIM processing requirements are ongoing, and the staff time and resources required for these continues to increase. Among the changes that effect LIM processing times include the recent addition of the Natural Hazards section and information associated with this, as well as the impending reform of the Resource Management Act.”

Also among the proposed changes was an increase for property file requests. Council did not currently charge the $20 property file fee, but planned to implement the charging of fees from 1 July if technology allowed. The new fee for the 2026/2027 property file requests was proposed to increase to $25.

A new charge – for non-residential property file requests – had also been introduced, in recognition of the additional time and resource required for this service. The fee for this had been proposed to be set at $45.

Other fees for building control services were proposed to be increased by between five and 25 percent in 2026/2027 – including a proposed 20 percent increase in application lodgement fees for building consents and amendments, and certificates of acceptance, Hurst said.

The application lodgement fee for a building consent or amendment – for work valued less than $125,000 – was proposed to rise from $80 to $96.60.

Meanwhile, the application lodgement for work valued more than $125,000 had now been split into two different fees. The application lodgement – for work valued between $125,000 and less than $2.5 million – had previously been charged at 0.075 percent of the value of work, and capped at $1875. For 2026/2027, it was proposed the cap was removed, and the fee charged at 0.08625 percent of the total value of work.

Work valued at $2.5 million and above was proposed to be charged a flat fee of $2265.

Council reviewed its Fees and Charges schedule each year. For 2026/2027, the majority of its fees were proposed to increase by between 5 and 15 percent: a reflection of rising service delivery costs, including inflation, corporate overheads to support services within the community, and Council’s rate increase.

Other increases proposed for the upcoming financial year included a 10 percent rise in fees to visit Splash Palace, and bus fees increases between 10 and 14 percent.

Submissions on the proposed fees and charges schedule could be made in-person at Splash Palace, Invercargill Public Library, the Bluff Service Centre, and Te Hīnaki – Civic Building.

Further information and online submissions could also be made at letstalk.icc.govt.nz

Council was scheduled to adopt its 2026/2027 Fees and Charges schedule in June.