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59: Destruction of premises
or “If a rental home is badly damaged or destroyed, you or your landlord can end the tenancy quickly.”
You could also call this:

“When a rented home becomes unsafe to live in because someone broke the rules”

If you have a tenancy agreement and someone breaks it, causing the place you’re renting to be destroyed or so badly damaged that you can’t live there anymore, this part of the law applies to you.

If you’re the tenant and you didn’t cause the damage, you don’t have to pay rent anymore.

The person who didn’t break the agreement can tell the other person that the tenancy is ending. This applies whether you have a fixed-term or periodic tenancy.

If you’re the landlord and you want to end the tenancy for this reason, you need to give at least 7 days’ notice.

If you’re the tenant and you want to end the tenancy for this reason, you only need to give at least 2 days’ notice.

This part of the law doesn’t apply if the damage is from contamination that has special rules about how to test for it and what levels are safe. For that situation, you need to look at section 59B.

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Next up: 59B: Termination where regulations prescribe testing methods and maximum inhabitable level of contaminant

or “Ending a tenancy when harmful substances are found in the home at unsafe levels”
Next

Part 2 Tenancy agreements
Termination of tenancies and recovery of possession

59ATermination where breach renders premises uninhabitable

  1. This section applies if, as a result of a breach of the tenancy agreement (whether for a fixed-term tenancy or a periodic tenancy) by a party, the premises are destroyed or are so seriously damaged as to be uninhabitable.

  2. If the tenant is not in breach, the rent abates.

  3. The party who is not in breach may give notice to the other party terminating the tenancy.

  4. When a landlord gives notice of termination under this section, the period of notice is not less than 7 days.

  5. When a tenant gives notice of termination under this section, the period of notice is not less than 2 days.

  6. This section does not apply in relation to damage that is contamination by a contaminant if regulations prescribe a relevant method of testing for, and a relevant maximum inhabitable level of, that contaminant (but see section 59B).

Notes
  • Section 59A: inserted, on , by section 41 of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2010 (2010 No 95).
  • Section 59A(6): inserted, on , by section 34 of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2019 (2019 No 37).