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Residential Tenancies Act 1986

Tenancy agreements - Rights and obligations of parties

44: Subletting or parting with possession by tenant

You could also call this:

“Rules about letting someone else use your rented home without the landlord's permission”

Your rental agreement might say you can’t let someone else live in the place you’re renting. This is called subletting or parting with possession. If your agreement doesn’t say this, you can ask your landlord if it’s okay to let someone else live there. You need to ask in writing and get their okay in writing too. Your landlord might have some rules about it that you need to follow.

It’s against the law if you let someone else live in your rented home without asking your landlord first, or if you do it when your agreement says you can’t.

Your landlord should be fair about letting you sublet. They can’t say no without a good reason. They also can’t say no just because of things like your race or religion. That would be against the law, as explained in section 12.

If you want to give your whole tenancy to someone else, that’s different. It’s called assigning a tenancy, and it has its own rules in sections 43A to 43C.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM95097.

Topics:
Housing and property > Renting
Rights and equality > Anti-discrimination
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43C: Effect of assignment by tenant, or

“ When a tenant hands over their rental agreement to someone else, they're no longer responsible for it, but they still have to deal with any problems from before. ”

Next

44A: Recovery of expenses incurred by landlord, or

“The landlord can get money back from the tenant for costs related to changing who lives in the house.”

Part 2 Tenancy agreements
Rights and obligations of parties

44Subletting or parting with possession by tenant

  1. There may be included in a tenancy agreement a provision that expressly and unconditionally prohibits the tenant from subletting or parting with possession of the premises during the term of the tenancy.

  2. In the absence of such a provision, the tenant may at any time during the tenancy sublet or otherwise part with possession of the premises with the prior written consent of the landlord and in accordance with any conditions attached to that consent by the landlord.

  3. A tenant commits an unlawful act if he or she sublets or otherwise parts with possession of the premises—

  4. in contravention of a provision of the kind described in subsection (1); or
    1. in any other case, without the prior written consent of the landlord.

      1. The landlord shall not withhold that consent unreasonably, nor attach any unreasonable conditions to it.

      2. Without limiting subsection (3), a landlord's consent shall be taken to have been withheld unreasonably if the withholding of the consent is an unlawful act under section 12 (discrimination to be unlawful act).

      3. Nothing in this section applies to the assignment of a tenancy by a tenant (see sections 43A to 43C).

      4. Repealed
      Compare
      • 1952 No 51 s 110
      • 1965 No 16 s 3
      • 1975 No 36 s 9(1)
      • Residential Tenancies Act 1978–1981 s 52 (SA)
      Notes
      • Section 44 heading: amended, on , by section 25(1) of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2020 (2020 No 59).
      • Section 44 heading: amended, on , by section 28(1) of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2010 (2010 No 95).
      • Section 44(1): amended, on , by section 25(2) of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2020 (2020 No 59).
      • Section 44(2): amended, on , by section 25(3) of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2020 (2020 No 59).
      • Section 44(2): amended, on , by section 28(2) of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2010 (2010 No 95).
      • Section 44(2A): inserted, on , by section 28(3) of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2010 (2010 No 95).
      • Section 44(2A): amended, on , by section 25(4) of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2020 (2020 No 59).
      • Section 44(4): replaced, on , by section 5(2) of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 1996 (1996 No 7).
      • Section 44(4): amended, on , by section 25(5) of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2020 (2020 No 59).
      • Section 44(5): replaced, on , by section 25(6) of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2020 (2020 No 59).
      • Section 44(6): repealed, on , by section 25(6) of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2020 (2020 No 59).