Following up on our update last month, I’m writing to inform you that the Residential Tenancy Act has been amended to provide you with greater rights regarding lease termination and repossession.

A series of changes to tenancy laws, outlined in the National-ACT coalition agreement, came into effect on January 30th of this year. These changes include:

• ​Reintroducing 90-day ‘no cause’ terminations for periodic tenancies, allowing landlords to end a periodic tenancy without a specific reason.
• ​Reducing landlords’ notice periods for ending a periodic tenancy to 42 days if they intend to move themselves or a family member into the property, if the tenancy agreement states the property is typically used for employee housing and they wish to house an employee, or if the property is subject to an unconditional agreement for sale requiring vacant possession.
• Reducing tenants’ notice period for ending a periodic tenancy to 21 days.​ (I would rather keep the previous 28 days if you ask me, which would have given us more time to re-let the property before the current tenant vacates).
• Reinstating landlords’ ability to give notice to end a fixed-term tenancy at the end of the term without a specific reason within the effective period.

These changes will provide you with more certainty that fixed-term tenancies can end on their expiry date and encourage landlords to offer their properties for rent, knowing they can use the property themselves for part of the year if desired.

Housing Minister Chris Bishop expressed his support for the changes, stating, “I’m proud of the changes we’ve delivered that will give more New Zealanders a place they can call home.”

I believe these changes have created a more balanced scale that respects the rights of landlords, especially considering that the property ultimately belongs to you.

Yours truly,
Ali Karambayev, on behalf of our team at OneCiti.