Property words, explained

The council’s estimate of what the property would have sold for on a set date, used to work out your rates. It is not a market price or a bank valuation.

Councils update it every three years or so. Homes often sell for more or less than their CV, so use recent sales or a registered valuer to judge a price.

The part of the capital value for the land alone, as if nothing were built on it.

Capital value minus land value: what the house and anything else built on the land add to it.

What the property would sell for today between a willing buyer and seller. Only a sale, or a registered valuer, settles it.

The yearly charge the council makes on every property to pay for local services. It is based on the property’s rating valuation.

The official LINZ record of who owns the land and what is registered against it: mortgages, easements, covenants and caveats.

Landsight shows the title’s reference and type from LINZ’s open data, but not the record itself. You can buy a copy from LINZ, and Landsight keeps it with the property for you.

The number LINZ files a record of title under, such as NA2D/1217. You use it to order the title.

You own the land outright, with no time limit. It is the most common kind of title in New Zealand.

An older kind of title where several owners share the whole section and each leases their own home from the others. Changes to a home can need the other owners’ consent.

Used for apartments and many townhouses: you own your unit, and share the common areas through a body corporate.

You own the building but lease the land from someone else, for a set term and a ground rent.

How the land is named in law, such as “Lot 104 DP 47631”: lot 104 on deposited plan 47631, the survey plan that created it.

A piece of land as LINZ maps it. A title can cover one parcel or several.

A right for someone else to use part of the land, for example for a shared driveway, pipes or power lines. It is registered on the title.

A promise registered on the title that limits what can be done with the land, such as the height or style of a house.

The type of area the council’s plan puts the land in. It sets what can be built there: how many homes, how tall, and how close to the boundaries.

A zone is a starting point, not permission: overlays, the site itself and sometimes a resource consent decide what may actually be built.

Auckland’s rule book for using land and building: its zones, overlays and rules. Other councils have a district plan that does the same job.

A zone mostly for one home on each section, up to two storeys.

A zone for houses, duplexes and terraces, mostly up to two storeys.

A zone for houses, terraces and low-rise apartments, up to three storeys.

A zone for higher-density homes: terraces and apartment buildings, typically five to seven storeys.

An extra layer of rules on top of the zone for a particular reason, such as heritage, special character or protected trees.

An invisible sloping line that starts a set height above each side boundary and leans inwards, for example 3 m up then 45°. A building must stay under it, which keeps sun and space for neighbours.

A strip along a boundary where buildings are not allowed: a front yard by the road, and side and rear yards by the neighbours.

How much of the section may be covered by buildings, as a share of its area. 45% on a 700 m² section allows 315 m² of roof.

Surfaces rain cannot soak into: roofs, driveways, paths and paving. The plan limits how much of a section they may cover.

The part of the section that must stay as lawn, garden or planting.

A change Auckland Council has proposed to the Unitary Plan to allow more housing. Parts of it already have legal effect, so the rules for some sites are changing.

Permission from the council to use land or build in a way the plan does not allow outright, such as more homes than the zone permits.

It is separate from a building consent. A planner can tell you whether you need one and how likely it is to be granted.

Something the plan allows without a resource consent, as long as the zone’s rules are met.

Needs a resource consent, but the council may only consider the matters the plan lists. Many medium-density housing proposals fall here.

Needs a resource consent, and the council can consider anything relevant before deciding.

Something the plan does not expect. It needs a resource consent and has to pass stricter tests to be granted.

Permission under the Building Act to do building work, checking it will meet the Building Code. It is separate from a resource consent.

The council’s sign-off that finished building work matches its building consent.

A council report on a property: its consents, rates, drainage, zoning and known hazards. Buyers usually ask for one before buying.

A council report on a building project: what the council knows about the site that affects the build, and what other permissions it needs.

For a granny flat built under the building consent exemption that came into force on 15 January 2026, a PIM must be issued before any work starts.

Splitting one section into two or more, each with its own title. It needs a resource consent and a licensed surveyor.

Fees the council charges for new homes, towards the roads, pipes and parks they will use.

A piece of land with its own title, usually with or for a house.

The size of the section as LINZ calculates it from its boundaries, in square metres. A survey can differ slightly.

The side of the section that runs along a road. A section needs enough of it for a driveway.

A survey made from an aircraft with a laser that measures the height of the ground, accurate to within a few centimetres.

Lines on a map joining points at the same height. Close lines mean steep ground.

How much the ground drops across the site. A 1 in 10 slope drops 1 m for every 10 m. Steeper sites usually cost more to build on.

A height above sea level, in metres, measured to New Zealand’s official height datum.

The ground a building covers, seen from above. It is not the floor area: a two-storey house has about twice the floor area of its footprint.

Stormwater is rainwater drainage, wastewater is sewage, and water supply is drinking water. In Auckland, Watercare runs wastewater and water supply.

Land the council’s maps show could flood in a very heavy storm, usually a 1-in-100-year rainfall.

The route rainwater takes across the ground when the pipes are full. Building in one is restricted.

Flooding, landslips, coastal erosion and similar risks the council has mapped. A mapped hazard can affect consents, insurance and price.

A check of whether a development is worth doing: what can be built, what it costs, what it sells for, and the profit or loss.

What all the finished homes would sell for. Landsight shows it after GST and selling costs.

Everything a development costs: the land, building, fees, consents, contributions and finance.

Revenue minus total cost. A negative profit is a loss.

Profit as a share of the total cost. Developers often look for about 15–20% or more to cover the risk.

Profit as a share of your own money in the project, not counting what is borrowed.

A year’s rent as a share of the price (or cost). Gross yield uses the rent alone; net yield takes off costs such as rates, insurance and maintenance.

The most the land could cost for a development to still make its target profit: what the homes sell for, less every other cost and the profit wanted.

The yearly return an investment earns over the whole time it is held, counting the money put in, the rent and costs each year, and the sale at the end.

How many times the rent covers the loan payments. Below 1, the rent does not cover them and the owner tops up the difference.

The weekly rent at which the rent just covers the loan payments and running costs, so the property costs the owner nothing each week.

The money coming in (rent) minus the money going out (mortgage, rates, insurance, upkeep), each week or year.

The loan as a share of the property’s value. Banks limit how high it can be.

Goods and Services Tax, 15% in New Zealand. Sales of new homes by a developer usually include it.

A small self-contained home on the same section as the main house. Since 15 January 2026 one of up to 70 m² can be built without a building consent if it meets the exemption’s conditions.

The exemption is for a new, standalone, single-storey building of no more than 70 m² inside its external walls. A PIM is needed first, and the zone’s rules still apply.

A home: a house, townhouse, unit or apartment that people live in.

Homes joined side by side in a row, each with its own front door.

Two homes in one building, joined by a shared wall.

The area of all the floors of a building added together, measured to the outside of its walls.

The quality of materials and finish, from a volume builder’s basic to architect-designed. It sets the building cost per square metre.

Where a driveway crosses the footpath and kerb to meet the road. A new one needs approval from the road authority (Auckland Transport in Auckland).

A shared parking area that several homes use, reached by one driveway.

A simple 3D block that shows a building’s size and shape, without windows or detail.