Terms of Service
Last updated: April 2026
1. About suburb.co.nz
suburb.co.nz is an independent online directory and editorial guide covering every suburb, town, and named locality in Aotearoa New Zealand. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by any New Zealand central or local government agency, real estate agency, or property listings platform. We publish information about places to support people deciding where to live, where to visit, and where to do business. We do not sell property, provide financial advice, broker transactions, or represent any party in commercial dealings.
2. Acceptance of these terms
By using the Site you confirm that: • You are at least 13 years old, or you are using the Site with the consent and supervision of a parent or guardian. • You will use the Site lawfully and in accordance with these terms. • Information you provide to us through forms or contact channels is accurate and submitted in good faith.
3. Information disclaimer
3.1 General accuracy
Information on the Site is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. While we take reasonable steps to verify the information we publish, we do not warrant or guarantee that any information is accurate, complete, current, or fit for any particular purpose. You acknowledge that: • Data we publish is sourced from publicly available datasets including Stats NZ census records, NZ Police aggregate crime statistics, Ministry of Education school information, Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) place names data, the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ), Department of Conservation, and regional and local government sources. • Source data may have been collected at a point in time and may no longer reflect current conditions. • Data may contain errors, omissions, transcription mistakes, or interpretation differences. • We update content periodically but do not guarantee that any specific page reflects the most recent data available.
3.2 AI-assisted content
Some content on the Site is drafted with the assistance of artificial intelligence tools and reviewed by human editors before publishing. While we apply human review to improve accuracy, AI-assisted content may contain errors, including factual inaccuracies, outdated information, or inappropriate phrasing. If you spot an error, please contact us and we will review and correct in good faith.
3.3 Not professional advice
Information on the Site is general in nature and is published for informational purposes only. It is not professional advice. In particular, content on the Site is not: • Real estate or property investment advice. Median prices, rents, and property statistics are estimates from public data. Consult a licensed real estate agent, valuer, or property professional before making property decisions. • Financial or investment advice. Consult an Authorised Financial Adviser before making financial decisions. • Legal advice. Consult a New Zealand lawyer for any legal matter. • Tax advice. Consult an accountant or chartered tax adviser. • Medical advice. Consult a registered health professional. • Educational placement advice. School zones, decile ratings, Equity Indices (EQI), enrolment criteria, and curriculum offerings change. Confirm with the school directly before making enrolment decisions. • Safety advice. Crime statistics reflect reported crime, not personal safety. Do not infer individual safety risk from aggregate data. • Travel or tourism guarantees. Operating hours, accessibility, prices, and availability of attractions, accommodation, and services change without notice. Confirm directly with operators. You are responsible for verifying any information before relying on it for any decision, particularly decisions involving money, property, education, health, safety, travel, or migration.
3.4 Crime and safety statistics
Where we publish crime statistics, those statistics: • Are sourced from publicly released NZ Police aggregate data. • Represent reported incidents, not actual occurrences. Many crimes are unreported. • Reflect a particular time period and may not represent current conditions. • Are aggregated to protect individual privacy and never identify victims, offenders, or specific addresses. • Should not be used to characterise the residents of any community or to make personal safety judgments. Statistical fluctuations are normal, particularly in suburbs with smaller populations where small absolute changes can produce large percentage changes.
3.5 Property and housing data
Property median prices, rents, sales volumes, and other housing market data are estimates derived from public datasets. They: • May not reflect current market conditions. • May be based on small sample sizes in some suburbs. • Are not valuations of any specific property. • Should not be used to value, price, or transact any specific property. We are not licensed real estate agents, valuers, or property professionals.
3.6 Editorial opinions and characterisations
We describe suburbs using both factual data and editorial characterisations (for example, "vibrant," "family-friendly," "rural," "tourist-oriented," "well-served by public transport"). These characterisations are: • Editorial opinions, not statements of objective fact. • Based on public data and reasonable interpretation of that data. • Not intended to defame, stigmatise, or harm any community, business, resident, or visitor. • Open to challenge. If you believe a characterisation is inaccurate or unfair, please contact us. We will review and adjust in good faith where appropriate. We do not publish editorial opinions with the intent to harm any person, business, or community.
4. Cultural and te reo Māori content
We use officially-recognised place names, including te reo Māori names where they are the official name (for example, Tāmaki Makaurau alongside Auckland, Whakatāne with macron, Ōtepoti alongside Dunedin). We make reasonable efforts to use macrons correctly and respect cultural significance. We acknowledge the historical and ongoing relationship of mana whenua, iwi, and hapū with the places we describe. We do not claim authority over place names, cultural narratives, or any matters of tikanga Māori. If you are part of an iwi, hapū, or whānau and believe content on the Site uses an incorrect or culturally inappropriate place name, misrepresents cultural narrative or context, or should be amended to reflect updated official names or cultural guidance, please contact us. We will review in good faith and adjust the content where appropriate.
5. Sponsored content
5.1 Sponsorship disclosure
We accept paid sponsorships for individual suburbs, regions, and specific Site placements. All sponsored content is clearly labelled as "Sponsored" and is visually distinct from editorial content. Sponsorships do not influence editorial content, rankings, or characterisations of any suburb or region.
5.2 No endorsement
The presence of a sponsor on a suburb, region, or page does not constitute endorsement, recommendation, or vouching by us. Sponsors are responsible for the accuracy of their own claims, the legality of their own conduct, and the quality of their own products and services. Your dealings with any sponsor are between you and the sponsor.
5.3 Sponsor screening
We screen sponsors against our Ad Content Policy before approval. We reserve the right to refuse, modify, or remove any sponsorship at our sole discretion, including for reasons of public interest, brand safety, legal concern, or alignment with our editorial values.
5.4 Refunds and removal
Sponsorship refund and cancellation terms are set out in the separate Sponsorship Agreement. We may remove a sponsor's content without refund where the sponsor has materially breached our Ad Content Policy or these terms.
6. Intellectual property
6.1 Our content
The Site, including its design, layout, code, branding, editorial text, structured data, photography (where original), and selection and arrangement of information, is owned or licensed by us and protected by New Zealand and international copyright, trade mark, and other intellectual property laws. You may: • View and read the Site for personal, non-commercial purposes. • Print or save individual pages for personal reference. • Quote brief excerpts (under 100 words) for legitimate purposes such as journalism, research, or social discussion, with attribution to suburb.co.nz and a link back to the source page. You may not, without our prior written permission: • Copy, reproduce, or republish substantial portions of the Site. • Scrape, crawl, harvest, or systematically extract content for commercial use or to build a competing product. • Use the Site or its data to train artificial intelligence models or large language models. • Frame, mirror, or embed the Site within another website except for ordinary linking. • Remove copyright, attribution, or proprietary notices.
6.2 Third-party data and content
The Site incorporates data from third parties, including but not limited to: • Stats NZ (Census and population data, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0) • NZ Police (aggregate crime statistics) • Ministry of Education (school directory) • Land Information New Zealand (LINZ Data Service, including the NZ Suburbs and Localities layer) • Department of Conservation (place and conservation data) • Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (housing market data, where licensed) • Regional councils, territorial authorities, and regional tourism organisations Each third-party dataset is used in accordance with its publishing terms. Attribution is provided on the About page.
6.3 User-submitted content
If you submit content to us (corrections, photos, business listings, sponsorship creative, feedback), you grant us a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive, sublicensable licence to use, reproduce, modify, publish, and display that content on the Site and in associated marketing material, for as long as we operate the Site. You warrant that you own or control the rights you grant. You may withdraw user-submitted content at any time by contacting us. We will remove it within 30 days, except where it has been incorporated into editorial content in a way that does not identify you as the contributor.
7. Third-party links
The Site contains links to third-party websites and services. These links are provided for convenience. We do not control, endorse, or accept responsibility for the content, accuracy, privacy practices, or availability of any external site. Following an external link is at your own risk.
8. Acceptable use
You must not use the Site to: • Engage in any unlawful activity, including breach of New Zealand law or the law of your jurisdiction. • Attempt to gain unauthorised access to any part of the Site, our infrastructure, or any user account. • Interfere with or disrupt the operation of the Site, including via denial-of-service attacks, scraping at unreasonable rates, or distribution of malicious code. • Harvest personal information about other users. • Impersonate any person or misrepresent your affiliation. • Submit content that is false, misleading, defamatory, harassing, threatening, infringing, obscene, or unlawful. • Submit content that promotes hatred toward any person or group on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, or other protected characteristic. • Post sponsorship content that violates our Ad Content Policy. We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your access to the Site for any breach of these terms.
9. Privacy
Your use of the Site is also governed by our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into these terms by reference. The Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, store, and disclose personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020 (New Zealand). We never publish information that personally identifies any individual without their consent. Crime statistics, demographic data, and other information published on the Site are aggregated to protect individual privacy.
10. Limitation of liability
10.1 Maximum extent permitted by law
To the maximum extent permitted by law, we exclude all warranties, conditions, and representations not expressly set out in these terms. We are not liable, in contract, tort (including negligence), equity, statute, or otherwise, for any: • Indirect, consequential, special, exemplary, or punitive damages. • Loss of profit, revenue, business, opportunity, goodwill, anticipated savings, or data. • Damages arising from your reliance on information published on the Site. • Damages arising from interruption, error, or unavailability of the Site. • Damages arising from the conduct of any sponsor, third party, or other user. • Damages arising from your dealings with any third party linked from the Site. Our total aggregate liability to you for all claims arising from your use of the Site is limited to NZD $100, except where this limitation is prohibited by law.
10.2 Consumer Guarantees Act 1993
If you are a consumer using the Site for personal, domestic, or household purposes within the meaning of the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993, nothing in these terms is intended to limit your rights under that Act. To the extent that you are using the Site for business purposes, you agree that the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 does not apply, in accordance with section 43 of that Act.
10.3 Fair Trading Act 1986
Nothing in these terms is intended to mislead or deceive within the meaning of the Fair Trading Act 1986. If any term is found to constitute misleading or deceptive conduct, that term will be read down to the extent necessary to avoid the breach.
11. Indemnity
You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless suburb.co.nz, its operators, employees, contractors, and agents from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising from: • Your use of the Site in breach of these terms. • Your unlawful conduct in connection with the Site. • Content you submit to us that infringes third-party rights or is otherwise unlawful. • Your conduct as a sponsor that breaches our Ad Content Policy or otherwise gives rise to claims by third parties.
12. Corrections, complaints, and takedowns
We take accuracy and fairness seriously. If you believe content on the Site is factually incorrect, defamatory, harassing, or unlawful, culturally inappropriate or contrary to tikanga Māori, infringing your intellectual property rights, or improperly disclosing personal information, please contact us at hello@suburb.co.nz with the URL of the page, a description of your concern, and any supporting evidence. We commit to: • Acknowledging your concern within 5 working days. • Reviewing in good faith. • Correcting or removing content where the concern is substantiated. • Responding to you with our decision within 20 working days. If you remain dissatisfied with our response, you may pursue any remedy available to you under New Zealand law, including (where applicable) referring the matter to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner or the courts.
13. Defamation and editorial fairness
We do not publish content with intent to defame any person, business, or community. Where we publish editorial characterisations, those are honest opinions based on public data and reasonable interpretation. Truth and honest opinion are defences under the Defamation Act 1992 (New Zealand) and we rely on those defences in good faith. If you believe content on the Site is defamatory of you or an entity you represent, please follow the corrections, complaints, and takedowns procedure in clause 12. We will engage in good faith.
14. Service availability and changes
We may modify, suspend, or discontinue any part of the Site at any time without notice. We do not guarantee continuous, uninterrupted, or error-free operation. Scheduled maintenance, infrastructure outages, or third-party service failures may cause downtime. We may update these terms from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page shows when changes were made. Material changes will be notified by a prominent notice on the Site for at least 14 days. Continued use of the Site after the effective date of an update constitutes acceptance of the updated terms.
15. Governing law and jurisdiction
These terms are governed by the laws of New Zealand. The District Court at Auckland and the High Court of New Zealand have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising from these terms or your use of the Site, except to the extent prohibited by mandatory consumer-protection law.
16. Contact
For questions about these terms, corrections, complaints, or takedown requests, contact us at: Email: hello@suburb.co.nz We aim to respond to all enquiries within 5 working days.
Summary in plain language
If you skipped to the end, here’s the short version:
- ✓The Site is independent. We're not the government, a real estate agency, or a property platform.
- ✓Information is general guidance, not professional advice. Verify before you make decisions.
- ✓Some content is AI-drafted with human review. We'll fix errors when spotted.
- ✓Crime stats are aggregate data, not safety advice. Don't use them to judge individuals.
- ✓Editorial opinions are opinions, not statements of fact. We don't intend to harm any community.
- ✓Sponsored content is labelled. We don't endorse sponsors. Your dealings with sponsors are with them.
- ✓Don't scrape the Site or use it to train AI without our permission.
- ✓We respect te reo Māori place names and cultural significance. Tell us if we get something wrong.
- ✓If you spot an error or have a complaint, email us. We'll review in good faith.
- ✓New Zealand law applies.