r/AucklandProperty

Long-time lurker, first-time poster. Wanted to share something that nearly cost me a lot of money earlier this year.

We were under contract on a 1980s house in South Auckland. Builder's report came back mostly fine — a few minor items, nothing alarming. We were ready to go unconditional.

Our solicitor flagged one thing in the LIM: a deck addition at the rear had no building consent on record. The vendor said it was "done years ago, should be fine." We almost believed them.

We pushed back and got a specialist to look at it. Turns out the deck had structural issues that wouldn't meet current code, and retrospective consent would require significant remediation work. Quoted at $38,000–$45,000.

We walked away.

What I wish I'd known earlier:

1. Always read the LIM yourself, not just rely on your solicitor to flag things. Solicitors check for legal issues — they're not building experts. The unpermitted work was technically noted in the LIM, but easy to miss if you don't know what you're looking for.
2. "Grandfathered" unpermitted work is a myth. There's no statute of limitations on unpermitted building work in NZ. It becomes your problem the moment you settle.
3. Cross-reference the LIM against the physical property. Walk around and ask: does everything I see match what's consented in this document?

We ended up using an AI tool called Verihome for our next property — it analysed the LIM and flagged the consent gaps within minutes. Saved us a lot of stress. They have a free property score tool too if you want to do a quick check before committing to due diligence costs.

Hope this helps someone avoid the same near-miss. Happy to answer questions.

Post BR there were repairs and recommendations highlighted by the building inspector. We entered negotiations lawyer suggested that we ask for vendor’s credit at settlement(it is almost half of our deposit) instead so we can get these repairs done once we move into the new house.

I am buying the house with 5% deposit. My mortgage advisor says he hasn’t seen this happening ever before and the bank won’t accept this. I am worried that we will lose the house after coming so close to the finish line. Please advise 🙏🏻

This may be too niche of a subject for here but I’m seeking advice before I engage company’s and waste their time.

I’m looking to replace my existing standalone original garage, it’s a 70 year old garage build constructed with a single pitch roof and three sides of asbestos cladding with the fourth side being a block wall on the boundary line.

It is to my understanding that I can construct a garage less than 30 sqm without plumbing and 1m off the boundary line without the need of consent.

However where I’m unsure about is that if I’m replacing the existing dwelling on the same original foot print would I have to adhere to the rule of the dwelling being 1m off the boundary line or do I just build on the exact same foot print.

Only posting in the hopes someone else has been in this situation and can offer some advice before I engage company’s.

TIA.