This Amendment Act significantly changes the Residential Tenancies Act 1986, so to give a fuller explanation of the changes, we have created this explainer:
Bonds
The manual lodgement of bonds via email and post is no longer available; bonds must now be lodged and paid online. Also, people no longer need to complete and upload a PDF lodgement form, and signatures are no longer needed when lodging or topping up a bond.
Periodic Tenancies
Landlords can now terminate a periodic tenancy:
- without needing a specific reason by providing 90 days’ notice; or
- with 42 days’ notice if either:
- the owner or their family member(s) require(s) the property as their main residence within 90 days of the tenancy ending, and will remain in it for at least 90 days;
- the property is needed for the landlord’s employee or contractor (usually this will need to have been stated in the tenancy agreement); or
- the property has been sold with a requirement to give vacant possession under an unconditional sales agreement.
Meanwhile, tenants can end their periodic tenancy with 21 days’ notice at any time.
If a notice had been issued prior to 30 January 2025 by either party, that notice remains valid and cannot be replaced with a different notice period by that party.
Additionally, landlords cannot give notice to end a periodic tenancies in retaliation to the tenants exercising their rights (for example, requiring maintenance from their landlord, or in retaliation to any person or organisation (for example, Tenancy Services) exercising a legal power against the landlord. If landlords do, tenants can apply to the Tenancy Tribunal within 12 months of the notice being issued to have it confirmed as retaliatory and declared unlawful. The notice might then be set aside, and exemplary damages be awarded against the landlord. If the tenant applies within 28 working days of the notice being issued, they can also request that it be cancelled.
Fixed-Term Tenancies
Fixed-term tenancies expiring on or after 1 May 2025 automatically become periodic tenancies, unless:
- a landlord or tenant gives notice to end the fixed-term tenancy between 90 and 21 days before the fixed term ends (no specific reason being required); or
- both the landlord and tenant agree on an alternative, if there are more than 90 days remaining before expiry.
Other Changes
These changes will take effect from 20 March 2025:
- Landlords and tenants can give notices and documents can be given by an electronic address (email, fax, phone number, or an instant messaging account) if it has been provided as an address for service in the tenancy agreement. However, a physical address for service will still need to be provided.
- Clauses in a Tenancy Agreement banning smoking (of smoked tobacco products) indoors, except for in outbuildings, are enforceable in the Tenancy Tribunal.
- However, if landlords wish to ban smoking anywhere else on the property (including outbuildings), the ban must align with the parties’ other rights and responsibilities under the Residential Tenancies Act (including the tenant’s right to quiet enjoyment).
- If considered appropriate for a given application, Tenancy Tribunal adjudicators can conduct proceedings based on the application and supporting documents without the need for parties to attend, but parties’ views will be considered. Matters involving the termination of a tenancy, or a landlord’s right of entry to the premises or a boarding room, are the exception.
- If a tenant, or their child/dependent, experiences family violence during tenancy, they can withdraw from the tenancy without financial penalty or the landlord’s agreement by giving at least 2 days’ notice (with qualifying evidence of family violence).
Pets
Several provisions will take effect on a date to be set by Order in Council and will only apply to tenancies that start on or after that date. These relate to tenants keeping pets in their rental property, responsibility for pet-related damage, and bonds for keeping pets.
Please find details about all these changes here: https://www.tenancy.govt.nz/law-changes/