BUILDINGS
Full speed ahead
Horowhenua District Council uses a co-design project to shave Land Information Memorandum report delivery times to just half a day on average.
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orowhenua District Council has drastically improved the efficiency of its reporting procedures by adopting a co-design approach with officers and stakeholders in its decision-making processes. The council has cut the time it takes to deliver its Land Information Memorandum (LIM) reports to stakeholders, while doubling its average LIM report output and cutting average turnaround time significantly. Horowhenua District Council now offers an online platform where potential buyers can request and pay for their LIM report. The council is required by legislation to deliver a LIM report within 10 working days but has upheld an average turnaround of their reports in half a day for the past 18 months. Nicki Brady, group manager business services for Horowhenua District Council, said that in listening to customers, council acknowledged that buying a house for whatever reason, be that as a first home or as an investment, is a significant decision to make. “For many people the provision of the LIM is a critical part of ensuring they feel confident in making that decision.”
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The LIM report is used by those considering property purchase in the Horowhenua district, as it helps buyers decide whether a piece of land is worth purchasing, free from restrictions and whether the intended use of the land is feasible. Indirectly, the report also benefits residents, real estate agents and developers in the area. Horowhenua District Council held a number of meetings and workshops with community and business executives in order to determine the outcome they wanted to achieve. The new procedure allows a staff member to generate the report including automated information available, rather than a complete manual report creation. Previously, Horowhenua District Council was able to deliver on 234 LIM report requests per year on an average 10-day turnaround. In 2016, the council received and delivered on 473 orders for LIM reports with an average turnaround of half a day. “The new LIM report procedure is a remarkable outcome for our stakeholders and community. It saves time and money, and more importantly, our customer feedback has been extremely positive,” said Nicki.