In New Zealand your boundary is public record. Every parcel of land in the country is in the cadastre, the national record of how land is divided, and Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) publishes it as open data. You do not need to own the land to look at its boundary, and you do not need to pay anybody to see roughly where it runs.
Is my property boundary public? Three free ways to see it
Yes. Every parcel of land in New Zealand is in the cadastre, the national record of how land is divided, which Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) publishes as open data. You can look at any boundary without owning the land.
Your council's property map. Nearly every council has an online map that shows parcel boundaries over an aerial photo, with the rates and zoning information alongside. Search the council's name and "property map" or "GIS". It is the quickest look, and it is what a neighbour arguing about a fence is usually looking at.
The LINZ Data Service. The source the councils draw from, at data.linz.govt.nz. The layer is called NZ Property Titles or NZ Primary Parcels, it is viewable in the browser, and the whole thing can be downloaded under a Creative Commons licence. More than most people need, and the reason the other two exist.
An app that fetches it for you. Type your address and the parcel arrives, drawn on an aerial photo of the place, with nothing to trace. That is what Plotstead does when you set up a property, and it is the last section of this page.
The one that costs money, and when you need it
The record of title and the survey plan for your land are the legal documents, and they are bought from LINZ for a small fee. The title names the owner and any easements and covenants; the plan shows the surveyed dimensions and where the pegs were set. If you are buying, subdividing, fencing on the line, or disagreeing with somebody about where the line is, these are what count, and a licensed cadastral surveyor is the person who puts them on the ground.
Is the boundary on a map exactly where the pegs are?
No. The line on a map is the cadastral record drawn onto an aerial photo, and either can sit a metre or two from where the pegs are, more on an old rural title whose survey is decades old. In a recently subdivided street it is very good. In the back blocks it is a strong hint.
It is right for knowing which paddock is yours, roughly how big the back one is, and where to walk when you are looking for a peg. It is wrong for placing a fence, a shed or a right of way. For anything on the line, use the survey plan and a surveyor. What the map is and is not worth says the same at greater length, and says never to dig from it.
How do I get my boundary onto an aerial photo of my property?
Type your address into Plotstead when you set up a property. In New Zealand the parcel comes from LINZ and is drawn on aerial imagery of the place, so the first thing you see is your land rather than an empty grid asking you to draw one; anywhere else the map opens at your address and you draw the boundary yourself. From there a pin marks the bore, a line follows the pipe, a shape goes round the shed, and each carries its own photos, notes and reminders.
Cross-leases and the odd title that does not resolve from an address can still be drawn by hand. It is free for one property, with no card and nothing to run out, and the first ten minutes are written up here.
