The Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill has passed its third reading, and will give landlords confidence to re-enter the market and provide tenants with more opportunities to secure a rental home – including for their beloved household pets.
The key changes in the Bill include:
- Reintroducing 90-day notice ‘no cause’ terminations for periodic tenancies, meaning landlords can end a periodic tenancy without requiring a specific reason.
- Reducing landlords’ notice periods for ending a periodic tenancy to 42 days in specific circumstances.
- Reducing tenants’ notice periods for ending a periodic tenancy from 28 to 21 days.
- Reintroducing landlords’ ability to give notice to end a fixed-term tenancy at the end of its term without requiring a specific reason.
- Allowing landlords to require a pet bond alongside the introduction of new pet consent and damage liability rules.
Changes will be introduced starting in early 2025. The new rules for ending tenancies can be used from 30 January, while pet-related changes, including the option to charge pet bonds, are likely to be introduced in late 2025.
For further details on these changes, guidance will be provided on the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment’s Tenancy Services website here, and we will keep you updated in due course.
