Ending a Tenancy

Termination by tribunal

The tenancy tribunal can be asked to end a tenancy if:

the rent is more than 21 days in arrears, or
the tenant has caused or threatened to cause substantial damage to the house, or
the tenant has assaulted, or threatened to assault, the landlord, the landlord's agent or a member of the landlord's family, or
the landlord or tenant has not acted upon a 10-day notice to remedy.

Giving Notice

In an indefinite (or 'periodic') tenancy

the landlord must give 90 days written notice, unless:

the landlord has sold the house and the buyer wants the house empty, or
the house is needed for a member of the landlord's family, or
the premises are needed for an employee of the landlord (providing this has been agreed at the start of the tenancy), in which case 42 days written notice can be given.

the tenant must give the landlord 21 days written notice.

In a fixed term tenancy, the tenancy simply ends on the day stated in the agreement. No further notice in writing is required

Any notice to end a tenancy must:

be in writing,
give the address of the tenancy,
give the date when the tenant is to leave by, and

Moving out

The tenant must:

move out by the date set out in the notice ending the tenancy,
leave the property reasonably clean and tidy,
remove any rubbish or arrange for its removal, and
pay the rent up to the last day of your tenancy.

If you don't keep these obligations, then the landlord is entitled to recover any costs of extra rent, cleaning or rubbish removal out of your bond.

Claiming the bond

Application forms are available from Tenancy Services, Level 1, 153 Hereford Street, Christchurch (Tel. 371 2100). If either party applies without the consent of the other, the executive will give the other party notice of the application and invite them, within 10 working days, to indicate in writing whether they wish to dispute the application. In the event of a dispute, the executive will refer the matter to the tribunal for determination.

Support TPA by making a donation