What you can be charged upfront to rent in New Zealand — and what’s illegal

What you can lawfully be charged

• Bond — up to 4 weeks’ rent. Lodged with Tenancy Services within 23 working days. Refundable
• Rent in advance — up to 2 weeks’ rent. No further payment can be required until the paid rent is used up
• Pet bond — up to 2 weeks’ rent. Only where a pet has been consented to. One at a time. Refundable
• Option fee — up to 1 week’s rent. Only to hold a property while you decide. Must be refunded or credited to rent if you proceed
• Letting fee — $0, illegal
• Application fee, admin fee, move-in fee, key money — $0, illegal

At $600 a week, the lawful maximum upfront without a pet is $2,400 bond + $1,200 advance = $3,600. With a consented pet, up to $4,800.

Letting fees are illegal

Since 12 December 2018, under the Residential Tenancies (Prohibiting Letting Fees) Amendment Act 2018, it is unlawful to charge a tenant a letting fee. Before that, a week’s rent plus GST was routine.

The ban covers any fee for services relating to granting, continuing, extending, varying or renewing a tenancy — which means renewal fees are caught too. Relabelling it as an application fee, admin fee, move-in fee, processing fee or key fee does not make it lawful.

Charging one is an unlawful act, and a tenant can seek exemplary damages of up to $1,000 at the Tenancy Tribunal.

Letting agent costs — advertising, viewings, tenant vetting, preparing the agreement — are the landlord’s to pay. That is the whole point of the ban.

If you paid a letting fee after 12 December 2018, you can apply to the Tenancy Tribunal to recover it.

Key money is illegal too

Key money is any payment to a landlord for granting or continuing a tenancy, beyond bond and rent. It is prohibited.

The single exception is an option fee: money paid to hold a property while you decide whether to take it, capped at one week’s rent. If you go ahead, it must be refunded or put towards rent. Agree in writing beforehand how long you have to decide and what happens to the money if you don’t proceed.

Rent in advance: the two-week cap

A landlord can ask for no more than two weeks’ rent in advance, and cannot require the next payment until the rent already paid has been used up.

Worked example. A tenancy starts 1 February. The tenant pays two weeks’ rent in advance, covering 1–14 February. No further rent is due until 15 February, when another two weeks is paid, covering 15–28 February.

Being asked for a month or more upfront is unlawful, however it is framed.

The costs that are legitimately yours

Beyond bond and advance rent:

• Moving — van hire or removalists
• Utility connection fees — power, gas, internet
• Contents insurance — your landlord’s policy covers the building only
• Overlap rent, if your new tenancy starts before the old one ends

Weekly running costs to budget for

Rent is one line. Also:

• Power, which spikes substantially in winter
• Water, where charged separately — common in Auckland
• Internet
• Contents insurance
• Gas, where applicable

A widely used guide is keeping rent to around a third of take-home pay, which leaves room for everything else. Decide your ceiling before you start viewing.

Build a buffer

An emergency fund of even a few hundred dollars means an unexpected cost doesn’t put your rent at risk. Rent arrears escalate quickly — a 14-day notice to remedy can be issued for any overdue amount — so the buffer is doing more work than it looks like.

If you’re struggling, talk to your landlord or property manager before you miss a payment. A written payment plan proposed early is treated very differently from silence.

Frequently asked questions