Property record requests in March are sitting at twice what they were (per day) in February. Photo / Bevan Conley
The number of Whanganui property records being requested has doubled this month and Whanganui District Council has reassigned two staff to process the work.
It follows the removal of the $30 fee for such requestswith the council getting about 10 requests per day by March 11.
In February there was an average of 5.14 requests per day, with 4.38 in January.
Independent building inspector Jeff Twigge said this had led to his clients being unable to get the information they need in time to satisfy conditions in their sales and purchase contracts.
A property record can contain information such as building consent applications, drainage plans, plans and specifications, code compliance certificates (CCC), planning reports and resource consent decisions.
Twigge said he used to pay a $30 fee online and get the records within 24 hours but was now waiting longer.
"By [removing the fee] they have become inundated to the stage that there is well over a week before property information records are issued," he said.
But council said in an emailed statement this was not the case.
"We aim to provide electronic property files by email within five working days and Mr Twigge received the file he requested in 3.5 working days," it said.
The council said requests for property records were covered by the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act.
"Technically, the council's decision on a request for information would be communicated as soon as practicable and no later than 20 working days after the request was received."
Twigge said real estate agents were now walking into the council with a list of up to 20 property requests and "dumping them on them".
Property Brokers branch manager Ritesh Verma was not aware of the fee change and even if they had been, requesting up to 20 records at a time would not be an option.
"A lot of the requests would be coming from this office and that's certainly not the case."
Like Verma, Harcourts Whanganui general manager Nikki Groves said she was not aware of the fee change but said it was good news because the demand for houses in Whanganui meant potential buyers were often under pressure in their efforts to snap one up.
"I think it's a good thing, especially in this market, because it makes it easier for purchasers to do their due diligence," Groves said.