How much notice does a NZ landlord have to give before entering?

For a routine inspection, a New Zealand landlord must give at least 48 hours' and no more than 14 days' notice, can enter only between 8am and 7pm on the day named in the notice, and can inspect no more than once in any 4-week period. For necessary repairs or maintenance, the minimum is 24 hours' notice stating the reason, again between 8am and 7pm. Showing the home to buyers or prospective tenants works differently: there is no notice option, the landlord needs the tenant's consent. The notice period only starts once the notice counts as received, and that depends on how you send it.

Notice by reason for entry

These are the rules for ordinary residential tenancies under section 48 of the Residential Tenancies Act. Boarding houses have their own, different rules.

• Routine inspection: at least 48 hours and no more than 14 days, on the day specified, 8am to 7pm.
• Checking that the tenant has finished agreed work, or work to fix a breach: the same 48 hours to 14 days, once the time allowed for the work has passed.
• Necessary repairs or maintenance: at least 24 hours, stating the reason, 8am to 7pm. Cosmetic or non-essential work needs an agreed time.
• Healthy Homes work or checks, and smoke alarm work: at least 24 hours, stating the reason, 8am to 7pm.
• Testing for meth or other contaminants: at least 48 hours and no more than 14 days, stating the reason and what is being tested for, 8am to 7pm.
• Decontamination work: at least 24 hours, stating the reason, 8am to 7pm.
• Checking for abandonment, when rent is at least 14 days behind and you have reasonable cause to think the tenant has left: at least 24 hours.
• Showing prospective tenants, buyers, valuers or real estate agents: the tenant's prior consent, at a reasonable time. The tenant cannot unreasonably refuse and can set reasonable conditions.
• Emergencies such as fire or flooding, a Tenancy Tribunal order, or the tenant's consent freely given at the time: no notice needed.

The grounds outside are different again. A landlord does not need notice to come onto the section for outside maintenance they are responsible for, like clearing gutters, though a courtesy message is sensible.

How often you can inspect

Routine inspections are limited to once in any 4-week period. Most landlords inspect far less often than that, usually at the frequency their insurer requires; our answer on how often a landlord can inspect covers the cadence. Entry for genuinely necessary repairs is not counted against the inspection limit.

Serving the notice, and the extra days

The Act does not prescribe a form for an entry notice, but it should be in writing and sent in one of the ways the Act allows, so you can show when it arrived. Each method has its own service time, the point at which the notice counts as received:

• Handed to the tenant: received immediately.
• Left in the letterbox or attached clearly to the door: received on the second working day after delivery.
• Posted to the address for service: received on the fourth working day after posting.
• Sent to an electronic address for service (email, mobile number or messaging account listed in the tenancy agreement) before 5pm: received that day. After 5pm: received the next working day.

The 48 hours, and the 14-day maximum, run from when the notice is received, not when you sent it. A notice posted on a Monday in a week with no public holidays counts as received on the Friday. For a letter, allow at least a week; if the tenant has an electronic address for service, sending before 5pm is simplest.

What the notice should say

• The rental address and the tenants' names.
• The reason for entry, for example a routine inspection or the specific repair.
• The day, and a time or time window between 8am and 7pm.
• Who will be entering, if it is a tradesperson or agent as well as you.
• Your name and contact details, the date the notice was sent, and how it was sent.

Our entry notice template has these fields laid out, and the rental inspection checklist is the companion for the visit itself.

The tenant's side

The home is the tenant's while they rent it, and the landlord must respect their peace, comfort and privacy. Tenants do not have to be present at an inspection, though Tenancy Services suggests landlords ask whether they want to be. If a time does not suit, the tenant can contact the landlord and negotiate another one. When taking photos, keep the tenant's belongings out of frame where possible.

Rights run both ways. A tenant who refuses lawful entry without a reasonable excuse commits an unlawful act, just as a landlord does by entering without the right notice or consent.

If the rules are broken

• Entering other than as the Act allows is an unlawful act. The Tenancy Tribunal can award exemplary damages of up to $1,500.
• A tenant failing to allow lawful entry without reasonable excuse faces the same maximum.
• Using force, or threatening force, to enter while the tenant or someone they have allowed in is inside is a criminal offence, with up to 3 months' imprisonment or a fine of up to $3,000.
• Not giving the tenant meth or other contaminant test results within 7 days is a separate unlawful act.