[Free] Check Any NZ Address for Flood Risk, Hazards, and if The Rent's Fair

AssociatedEruptipn @ WhareScore on 20/04/2026 - 20:07
Last edited 20/04/2026 - 20:10 by 1 other user

Hello Fellow Cheapies

I figured it was time I made my contribution to call myself a true Cheapie :)

Something's always bugged me about NZ property websites. TradeMe, realestate.co.nz, every listing site, every agent's glossy brochure. They're all built for the people selling. They talk
up the "sunny aspect" and the "character features" and never mention the street has flooded three times since 2015, or that the insulation's munted, or that the asking rent is $80/wk over
the suburb median.

There's no website that's actually in the renter's or buyer's corner. So I built one.

In the wake of the recent weather events, I figured a tool like this could help a lot of us, especially anyone curious about what's actually sitting under their own home.

https://www.wharescore.co.nz

Paste any NZ address, see the whole picture in one view:

  • Flood zones, liquefaction, tsunami, slope failure, coastal erosion, wind zone, nearby contamination
  • Rent vs suburb median (real MBIE bond data so you know if you're being rinsed)
  • Capital value + price sanity check for buyers
  • Transit, road noise, crime, school zones, heritage overlays
  • Healthy Homes checklist for renters
  • Mortgage, rates, insurance maths for buyers

All from official government sources (GWRC, WCC, GNS, Stats NZ, MBIE, LINZ). Collated so you don't have to chase a dozen different council GIS viewers.

Free. No signup. Wellington has the deepest data because that's where I've done most of my testing, but most major centres have pretty solid coverage too.

Built for:

  • Homeowners who are just curious about their own place. What hazards actually sit under it, what's coming climate-wise, what to tell the insurer, what to prep for the next big rain
  • Renters about to sign a lease, who want to know what the listing didn't mention
  • Buyers wondering if the asking price is fair or if they're being had

Disclosure: I built it solo. Not selling anything. Just wanted Kiwis to have something in their corner when making big housing decisions.

Would love feedback, particularly if you find a property where the data looks off or if you think something can do with improvement.

Free Software/Websites

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  • fatboyj on 20/04/2026 - 22:30

    Thanks, this is a useful tool and very well laid out, well done.

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    • AssociatedEruptipn @ WhareScore on 20/04/2026 - 22:36

      Thanks @fatboyj I'm really glad you like it. Part of me doesn't want to see a repeat of what is going on outside in Wellington and around other parts of the country right now.
      One more informed Kiwi is another disaster saved, that's the goal!

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  • Alan6984 on 20/04/2026 - 23:15

    The site looks great, and works really well - congratulations!

    I have a question about the info provided:

    One of the items reported is 'Liquefaction Susceptibility'. An example description is:

    Liquefaction Susceptibility: Very Low = Critical

    If the risk is very low, why would it also be rated as 'Critical'? I would have expected a lower rating if the risk is 'Very Low'? How are you determining the rating?

    Thanks!

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    • AssociatedEruptipn @ WhareScore on 21/04/2026 - 09:02

      Hi Alan, yup that is a bug, a fix is on the way. It saw the word very and mapped it to critical, not great. Thanks for your patience

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  • AssociatedEruptipn @ WhareScore on 24/04/2026 - 16:24

    If you spot something off, please let me know. There's a feedback button under the "?" in the top right corner, just tap it and then "Send feedback". Takes a few seconds, and it genuinely helps.

    I want this to be good for everyone using it, so your heads up ends up helping the next person too. Thanks for taking the time.

    • 1
  • Sadie on 20/04/2026 - 20:37

    Just checked my own property, it’s cross lease (and says so on your website) but has a big warning about leasehold properties which is incorrect.

    “ Ground rent typically reviews every 7 to 21 years and can jump 20 to 50%. Mortgage options are narrower: some banks won't lend on leasehold, others require shorter terms. Ask for the current ground rent, next review date, and lessor identity before signing.“

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    • AssociatedEruptipn @ WhareScore on 20/04/2026 - 20:42

      Thanks for taking a look Sadie, may I ask what city or region you are based in? The data available changes quite a bit from city to city.

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      • Sadie on 20/04/2026 - 20:45

        Looked up two crosslease properties, both Christchurch and both show the leasehold warning.

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        • AssociatedEruptipn @ WhareScore on 20/04/2026 - 21:05

          All fixed now thanks for point that out @Sadie much appreciated. What do you think of the website? Any initial thoughts?

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  • Rhys on 21/04/2026 - 03:11

    Does full actually provide references as to where each data ponit comes from? I see nothing on your website to verify the AI slop you're pushing for each address is actually correct and not just a random summary?

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    • AssociatedEruptipn @ WhareScore on 21/04/2026 - 08:04

      Hi Rhys thanks for using the website. The summary itself is from the AI which is the part at the end of the report. The rest has been pulled from either council or government datasets. https://wharescore.co.nz/help

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  • Kate1 on 21/04/2026 - 07:51

    For 2 properties we own, you have listed Alan 6984 comment, don't see why its critical if low risk. But also for both of them, they are cross leased, none of the info is correct, it relates to the other house on the cross lease. And also your rents are lower than what places are going for in both suburbs I looked at.

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    • AssociatedEruptipn @ WhareScore on 21/04/2026 - 08:08

      Hi Kate regarding the rent price, you’ll have to enter the number of bedrooms and bathrooms and also the finish and other relevant detail to get the most accurate estimate. Whether the estimate is accurate is determined by how many bonds are lodged in the area that you are searching for and with the number of bedrooms that you had specified. We then make a few adjustments according to other factors comparing your property to the area averages.
      Areas with high renter numbers will generally have a better estimate.

      • 1
  • AleBeerenhoff on 21/04/2026 - 08:17

    Site appears dead to me - although this might be my work vpn killing my connection as I see I can connect from my mobile hmmm

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    • AssociatedEruptipn @ WhareScore on 21/04/2026 - 09:01

      That's strange, not sure why your work VPN would be killing the connection. Maybe try another browser?

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  • Natashatanya on 21/04/2026 - 08:25

    Does your website also include natural hazards claims made against a property?

    This is the website you can check for your reference: Natural Hazards Portal: Claims map https://share.google/Pgiy2Bo7DAVqY5rRM

    • 0
    • AssociatedEruptipn @ WhareScore on 21/04/2026 - 08:40

      Hi @Natashatanya Thanks for pointing me that way, it looks like I have to make a request to natural hazards NZ for that data. I'll see if they're willing to give us something for free. Fingers Crossed

      • 0
  • Kate1 on 21/04/2026 - 08:32

    Thanks, for both of our properties, for 1 of them we still own the back one, used to own the front one as well, none of the info for size, cv matches either house, I put both 1 and 2 in to check.
    For our other property, the details of size and cv are wrong too, for both 1 and 2 and it says the same for both houses on that cross lease, yet they are different size houses, 1 is 2 storeys and 1 isn't.

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    • AssociatedEruptipn @ WhareScore on 21/04/2026 - 09:07

      That's strange Kate1, will definitely look into this. I pull the data straight from CV datasets and those vary by council. May I ask what city the property you are having trouble with is in?

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      • Kate1 on 21/04/2026 - 10:39

        Thanks, they are both in Totara Vale, North Shore Auckland. I will email the addresses to you to the contact email on your website.

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  • Sickman on 21/04/2026 - 08:36

    I have not looked at your site but you could add searisenz nz info as well for coastal properties.

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    • AssociatedEruptipn @ WhareScore on 21/04/2026 - 08:55

      Hi Sickman, there is costal errosion but that is council dependant, I'll take a look at searisenz data ASAP, thanks for the suggestion!

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  • Beejay on 21/04/2026 - 08:40

    Not hugely impressed to be honest. My completely flat section is noted as a high slope risk. I don't have any hills or slopes around me. It says there's a higher earthquake and liquification risk when the council website puts my address at no risk of liquification.
    It also says there are 14 risky industrial sites nearby but doesn't name them, and to check the soil for contamination before digging. I guess there's a petrol station about 2kms away. Aside from that… ?
    I wouldn't trust this report if I was looking to buy.

    • 0
    • AssociatedEruptipn @ WhareScore on 21/04/2026 - 08:42

      Hi Beejay, thanks for the feedback. Just out of curiosity, what city were you viewing? The data varies quite a bit from city to city. A lot of my time was spent stitching it all together.

      • 1
    • AleBeerenhoff on 21/04/2026 - 08:49

      I noticed too that our property was marked as low liquification risk yet further down the report says high liquifaction risk - so there are some data points which are not mapped quite right or maybe things are being over inflated to make it feel like someone should pay the money for a complete report (or something)?

      • 0
      • AssociatedEruptipn @ WhareScore on 21/04/2026 - 10:45

        Hi @AleBeerenhoff yeah thanks for pointing those out. The liquidation risk issue as been fixed now. Are you referring to the section where is has a list of commended next steps along with the costs? I’ve made them recommendations now and stripped out the costs to hopefully make to less misleading. Is this kind of what you were looking for?

        • 1
  • Kate1 on 21/04/2026 - 08:42

    Curious how would your landlord know: What are the typical power and water costs here?

    • 0
    • AssociatedEruptipn @ WhareScore on 21/04/2026 - 08:53

      Hi @Kate1. Good question, I was thinking maybe the landlord had lived there in the past. Although a better message might be to tell the user to check in powerswitch or "Billy" to get a rough indication

      • 1
  • rcarter on 21/04/2026 - 09:29

    Thanks for building this tool.

    I wanted to flag an issue with how your tool is handling Christchurch tsunami evacuation zones. For a property I searched it had a watch listed for tsunami despite the designation being "no zone", meaning it isn't at any risk of inundation from a tsunami it still gives the warning:

    "This property is within a tsunami evacuation zone. In the event of a large earthquake, you may need to evacuate to higher ground. Know your evacuation route."

    On a different note I find it interesting the address has a deprevation score of 8/10 which is actually correct by that index. The property is near the University of Canterbury and has low crime - I think the deprevation comes from uni students being unable to afford both food and beer at the same time lol. So we're poor but well educated. Not a criticism of the tool I just found it interesting and hadn't seen the index before.

    • 0
    • AssociatedEruptipn @ WhareScore on 21/04/2026 - 12:16

      hi @rcarter thanks for pointing that one out. It has since been fixed, just another mapping issue.
      And yeah the deprevation score is interesting, It's just a number at the end of the day, but still good to know. It takes a lot into account like what you've just seen with the student numbers etc

      • 0
  • Stoic on 21/04/2026 - 10:05

    Where do the price estimates in the generated quick report come from?

    I looked up a property and report said the estimated value is ~$675k, $661k low and $688 high.

    Homes.co.nz has it at $820k, Oneroof has it at $835k, it was sold for $805k a year ago, latest CV from August 2025 is $800k.

    • 0
    • AssociatedEruptipn @ WhareScore on 21/04/2026 - 10:54

      Hi @Stoic, thanks for the feed may I ask which council you were searching for? Ive tried to pull the latest Cv data I could find for each council so some might be out of date. The ~600k is probably some old data. Will take a look at this.

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      • Stoic on 21/04/2026 - 12:05

        Christchurch City

        • 0
        • AssociatedEruptipn @ WhareScore on 21/04/2026 - 13:42

          Hi Stoic, feel free to check again, the issue should be fixed now. It uses the HPI for each region to make an estimate along with the user entering the details of the property

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  • kfr23 on 21/04/2026 - 19:47

    Nextjs and Claude Opus are getting pretty good

    • 0
  • Alan6984 on 25/04/2026 - 15:40

    In the full (free) report, in the 'At a glance' section, is can show a box stating:

    Schools (Risk)

    It then lists three schools that the property is in zone for.

    Why might the summary show 'Risk' with respect to the schools?

    • 0
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