Tenancy agreement

Tenancy agreement guide

Along with the video we also created a Guide to understanding your tenancy agreement [PDF, 773 KB]

A summary of the Residential Tenancies Act

The Residential Tenancies Act applies to everyone who is renting a home and is designed to protect our customers and the landlord.

Everyone who lives in our homes, must have a written Tenancy Agreement that sets out conditions that have been agreed to. Conditions may include things like where you can park your car or whether you can have a pet.

Both the customer and landlord must sign the Tenancy Agreement and ensure our customers have a copy of this, before the tenancy begins.

Our responsibilities

If we enter into a tenancy agreement with you, we will:

• make sure your home or flat is in good condition and that the locks and fastenings are adequate
• make sure your home meets building codes and health and safety standards
• arrange for essential repairs to be done as quickly as possible
• give you 24 hours notice before doing any planned maintenance work
• give you 48 hours notice before an annual visit.

If you feel we aren’t meeting our responsibilities, get in touch with us so we can work together to resolve this.

Customer responsibilities

By signing the tenancy agreement,  you have the right to enjoy the peace, comfort, and privacy of your home without being unreasonably disturbed by Kāinga Ora or any other Kāinga Ora customers.

As a Kāinga Ora customer, you need to:

• pay your rent on time
• look after your new home and grounds by keeping them tidy
• let us know as soon as possible when maintenance is needed
• take responsibility for the behaviour of other people who live in or visit your home. You may be liable for any damage they cause
• respect your neighbours peace, comfort and privacy

We want to keep you fire safe in your home. To maintain fire safety in your home, you need to:

• let us know as soon as possible if any smoke alarms at the premises are not working. Please do not tamper with smoke alarms or remove batteries
• maintain a way to escape from a fire, making sure:
  • the escape routes are kept clear (do not store items in stairwells and passage ways)
  • fire exit doors are free of obstacles
  • Smoke-control and fire-stop doors, if you have them, are kept closed.

If you lose your keys or lock yourself out you can either arrange a locksmith yourself or call us and we'll arrange a new key for you.

Providing feedback

It’s important that you’re able to live well in your home, so if something is not right we want to hear from you. Your feedback is important to us because it helps us understand how we can improve the way we do things.

If you’re not happy with something, please let us know. There are a number of different ways you can contact us and we aim to respond to your complaint within two working days.