Rental bonds in New Zealand: what they cover, how Bond Hub works, and getting yours back

The rules in one table

• Maximum general bond — 4 weeks’ rent
• Maximum pet bond — 2 weeks’ rent, one at a time, in addition to the general bond
• Lodgement deadline — 23 working days from receipt
• Who holds it — Tenancy Services, not the landlord
• How it’s lodged — Bond Hub or integrated property management software; since 29 June 2026 there is no other route
• Signatures required — No, since 18 December 2024
• Refundable — Yes, in full, where there is no unpaid rent, damage beyond fair wear and tear, or cleaning liability

If rent increases, a landlord can require a bond top-up. If rent decreases, you can apply for a refund of the excess.

What a bond can lawfully cover

• Unpaid rent
• Damage beyond fair wear and tear, caused by you, your household or your guests
• Cleaning, where the property was left dirty
• Unpaid water charges, where you’re liable for them
• Costs the Tenancy Tribunal has ordered you to pay

What it cannot cover

Fair wear and tear. This is the whole game, and it’s where most disputes are won.

Fair wear and tear is the deterioration that occurs from ordinary use over time, regardless of who the tenant is. Faded paint and curtains. Worn carpet in traffic areas. Minor scuffs on walls. Loose hinges. Grout discolouring. A carpet that has aged four years has aged four years, and that is not your liability.

Damage is different: it results from a specific act or omission. A burn mark. A cracked basin. Claw marks on a door frame. A hole in a wall.

The Tribunal applies depreciation. If a landlord replaces a ten-year-old carpet you damaged, you are not liable for a brand-new carpet — you are liable for the remaining life you destroyed. Ask for the age of anything you’re being charged to replace.

Careless damage: the four weeks’ rent cap

For careless or accidental damage, a tenant’s liability is capped at the lesser of the landlord’s insurance excess or four weeks’ rent. This is a statutory cap and it is not widely known.

Intentional damage is uncapped, as is damage arising from an act that constitutes an offence.

This is also why you’re entitled to know whether the property is insured and what the excess is — your landlord must tell you.

Getting it back in full

• Compare the property against your move-in photos, room by room
• Clean thoroughly — the four most commonly claimed items are the oven interior, rangehood filter, inside window tracks, and carpet
• Repair anything you caused; leave fair wear and tear alone
• Return every key, remote and fob
• Take dated move-out photos of every room, before you hand back the keys
• Confirm your forwarding address and bank account
• Process the refund through Bond Hub

Where both parties agree, refunds are usually processed within days.

If your landlord claims a deduction you disagree with

Ask for the claim in writing, itemised, with evidence. Quotes, invoices, photographs, and the age of any item being replaced. A claim without evidence is a claim that will not survive.

Then compare it against your own records. A significant proportion of disputed claims resolve at this point, because the landlord looks at the ingoing report alongside your photographs and withdraws.

If it doesn’t resolve, you have two routes before a hearing: self-resolution, using Tenancy Services’ structured process and template letters — free, and it works more often than people expect — or FastTrack Resolution and mediation, also free, quicker than a hearing, and a mediated agreement can be sealed so it is enforceable like a Tribunal order.

Applying to the Tenancy Tribunal

Either party can apply. It is designed to be used without a lawyer, and its jurisdiction runs to $100,000.

What wins bond cases, in order: dated move-in photographs, the ingoing inspection report signed, dated move-out photographs, the written exchange with the landlord, and evidence of the age of anything being claimed for.

What loses them: no photographs, no ingoing report, and an argument based on what feels fair rather than on the wear-and-tear distinction.

Since 20 March 2025 the Tribunal can decide some matters on the papers, without a hearing, where it considers that appropriate and having regard to the parties’ views. It cannot do this for matters involving termination of a tenancy or a landlord’s right of entry.

Frequently asked questions