A computer issue at Auckland Council has stopped people getting an urgent property report until January 6 next year.
Ironically, the computer upgrade to improve the issuing of LIM reports has been delayed and halted the urgent service from the middle of last month.
Urgent requests for a LIM are normally sought by people looking to move quickly on buying a house or other property.
READ MORE:
• Auckland Council under the pump with building consents
• Deputy Auditor-General slams Auckland Council for not issuing building and resource consents on time
• Auckland Council consent woes: 430 property owners forced to reapply
• Extensive home renovation in Auckland shut down by authorities for no consent
A LIM report is a summary of the information the council holds on a property, including potential problems with things like flood plains, subsidence or slippage, and consenting issues.
A notice on the council's website says: "We are not currently accepting requests for urgent LIMs due to a system upgrade. We expect this service to be available again from January 6 2020."
One affected person, who did not want to be named, said they potentially needed a LIM report before January 6 for a property at Omaha if someone came along and put in an early offer.
Essentially the council is closed for Christmas, which means if you need to do any urgent property transaction due diligence cannot be done, the person said.
The council's building consents general manager, Ian McCormick, said the computer upgrade was due to be implemented in November but, as is often the case with large-scale system changes, the process took longer than anticipated.
He said the council was still able to deliver standard LIMs within an average of four working days, but was not confident it could meet the three-day urgent LIM service.
The building consent division is closing down for Christmas from December 23 to January 5 and people who need a standard LIM before this time should apply before December 9 to ensure they get it before the shutdown period, McCormick said.
The council issues about 28,000 LIMs a year.