How much notice do I need to give my landlord?

You must give at least 28 days notice to your landlord or property manager to end a periodic tenancy in NZ. To be valid the notice should always be written and include: the tenancy address, the date the tenancy will end and the signature of the tenant providing the notice. 

Tenancy law states that if the latter is put in the letterbox two working days are added to the notice period, four days if it was delivered via PO Box, and one extra day if the notice is emailed after 5pm. You can vacate the property if you’ve provided less than 28 days notice, but only if the landlord agrees to this arrangement in writing. 

Note: the above is accurate at the time of writing but the National coalition government plans to reduce tenant notice periods to 21 days for periodic tenancies some time in 2024. They are also planning to allow landlords to evict tenants with no reason given, provided they give 90 days notice. 

The above notice period of 28 days only applies to periodic tenancy agreements while generally a tenant cannot give notice to end a fixed term tenancy early. There are exceptions to this rule and tenants can end a fixed term tenancy early if:

• They agree to end the tenancy with the landlord: This should be in writing and include details of what the agreement is. 

• They sublet the property: for all tenancies granted from 11 February 2021 onwards, landlords must consider requests from tenants to assign the tenancy to another person, and they must not decline unreasonably. In other words if you find another suitable tenant to take over the tenancy your landlord must agree unless there’s a good reason why they can’t and you can apply to the Tenancy Tribunal to challenge their decision. 

• They experience family violence: if you experience family violence during a tenancy you can remove yourselves from the tenancy by providing two days written notice with evidence of family violence. There will be no financial penalty. 

If you’re in a fixed term tenancy and you’d like to end it, the best thing to do is usually contact the landlord or property manager, explain your reasons and make a request. Most landlords will be reasonable and provide options for the end of the tenancy, whether that’s a sublet or another agreement. All of these communications and agreements should be written, not in person or over the phone. 

The landlord can charge reasonable fees to end a tenancy but these must be reasonable costs that were actually incurred. This could include advertising to find a new tenant and fees to property managers for showing the property to prospective tenants.