Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) says it has begun a cost recovery review.

LINZ says the review will ensure that the way LINZ sets and applies fees and charges fits with Treasury and Auditor-General good practice, "and better reflects principles such as 'benefiter pays' and the phased introduction of enhanced services as part of the rebuild of Landonline".

LINZ says it relies on fees and charges to fund its services and products, including land titles, overseas investment regulation, topographic maps and nautical charts.

“LINZ wants to carry out this review to make sure people are paying fair and appropriate fees for LINZ services, and so people can understand how the fees are calculated," says Registrar-General of Land Robbie Muir.

LINZ says it will consult widely about its fees and charges.

"An initial set of information and questions has been circulated to the Survey and Titles Enhancement Programme Stakeholder Forum. Two roundtables with external stakeholder groups were held in Auckland and Wellington during June," it says.

"The first stage of the review will produce a discussion document with options for a fee-setting framework and the implications for users. The second stage will use the framework to review individual LINZ fees and charges."

The first set of fees and charges to be reviewed will be survey and title fees, and Overseas Investment Office fees.