[Twig]

I'm alittle worried about signing a tenancy agreement for a property we have found (which is ideal). The landlady wants us to sign a 12 month fixed term tenancy agreement, is this normal for nz? Whilst we want to be in there for 12 months, we worried about being tied to paying for 12 months rent in the case of disaster (illness, redundancy etc).

What do you think??

[BkyMonster]

This is pretty normal as far as I've seen. If you do need to break a lease it seems the general way to do that is to do the advertisement and basic interview to find people to take over the remainder of your tenancy and refer them to the landlord from there (not knowing this from experience, but when we were last looking we talked to a few people who were doing just that).

[Ramo]

I think it's dependent on the property. I've recently signed up to a 12 month tenancy agreement in Wellington as it was the minimum requested by the landlady. Personally I would have preferred a shorter tenancy 'lock-in', but the place was ideal too, and given there were other applicants, I felt I had little choice.

But the 12 month tenancy agreement was not universal across the different properties I viewed. In fact, most landlords were willing to add extras if you signed up for at least a year's tenancy, e.g. install a heat pump, or include a fridge/washing machine etc. 6 months generally appeared to be the minimum, rather than 12 - but a landlord would of course prefer the longer tenancy, therefore puts you at a disadvantage c.f. to other candidates.

[dilanium]

And then there's leases like mine which never had any time on them. But we've been living here for 9 months already anyway and aren't looking to move for several more months.

[DizzyF]

We took a 3 month lease which just extends. we have to give 3 weeks notice to landlord and they have to give 3 months to us. Very laid back and has been an ideal start off point as it was furnished too. This is a central Auckland apartment and there are so many empty that you get to have a say in the contract. We move in 3 weeks to the house we just bought.

[Alan]

Personally I would not take a property with that type of term, not in the current climate, there will be plenty more if this one slips through.

[pleccy2000]

I wonder - what would happen if you broke the contract after a few months?

[Jon-and-Lou]

Just be wary ... a fixed term tenancy means you have to stay there for the entire term. There are no get-out clauses, and are legally bound to pay rent for the whole 12 months.

Should you want to end it early, some landlords may agree to let another tenant take over the lease, but they don't have to, and are completely in their rights to make you stay and pay (and not only pay, but you may have to maintain the garden etc if you agreed to this).

We signed a 6 month lease, and wanted to leave early and found out this too late and had to not only pay rent, byt upkeep the garden etc until the lease expired.

[RJLink]

Yes, you are legally bound to pay rent for the whole term. But there are other things to consider.

1) If rents are rising and you expect to stay for the full term, you want to sign the lease to lock in the price.
2) If for some reason you have to move or you want to move, consider how likely your landlord is to actually come after you for the money. If you're moving out of the area (especially out of the country), it's more unlikely. If you leave on good terms and have offered some replacement tenants, it's more unlikely. If the premises have not sat empty for very long and the landlord hasn't lost much in the way of rent, it's way more unlikely.
3) If rents are falling or there's otherwise an abundant supply of decent rentals, it may be worth the peace of mind just to refuse to sign any term lease and let it be a deal-breaker if the landlord won't agree.

[xanctus]

Maybe asking a little discount with 12 months tenancy?? that's what I did, and boy the rent we were paying was wayyyy lower than other rooms in the same floor.
Who knows...try your luck! and good luck hehehe!

[Philip10]

We took a 3 month lease which just extends. we have to give 3 weeks notice to landlord and they have to give 3 months to us.


I have the same and under the present economic condtions I think this is now the norm for NZ

[BkyMonster]

I think it is largely dependent on how competitive the rental market is at the time/area as to how much you can negotiate on the length of the lease. When we first arrived in Sept/Oct our landlord was willing to give us a month to month tenancy as he was happy to have tenants. When we wanted to move somewhere new in February we pretty much had to agree to a 1 year lease to be competitive with other applicants.

[Twig]

Well have spoken to landlady about the 12mth fixed term - I asked her what would happen in a 'worst case scenario' e.g. loss of job, job transferred, serious illness etc. She said we would then come to a mutual agreement to end the tenancy agreement as long as we gave her suitable notice (another one of her tenants is doing just this...apparently). I've also looked up legal situation, and if it's causes hardship to continue with the agreement (more hardship than it would cause the landlord if discontinued) then the Tenancy Tribunal will terminate it (if landlord puts up fight). So abit of back up at least.

We don't really want to move anywhere for at least 18 months so maybe it's a good option. And like I said before, there's very little else out there (with at least 4 beds anyway!).

Thanks for your all help guys :nice1

[Mart1]

Make sure that you ask the landlord for a 6 month tenancy and have proof of that as the first thing the tenancy tribunal will ask is if you asked the landlord this. If you did not and signed a 12 months it may be financially difficult if you go to a tribunal - i know from experience having asked a landlord for 6 the tribunal was so on my side.:nice1

[bob_the_engineer]

12 Months is very common for Wellington, much more casual in other places. If your dealing with a private landlord i wouldn't be too concerned, usually they are understanding if you have a genuine problem. If however you are dealing with the likes of say Quinovich (if thats how you spell it) they are a rental company, and have to be the meanest spirited people I've met in the entire time I've been in NZ!

watch out for them they are a right bunch of sharks, I (as a model tenant) had big problems and so did at least two of my work colleges. things like no matter how well you clean the house they still try and charge you for professional cleaners, photograph everything when you are dealing with these guys and check the CD they give you closely, they don't notice the faults until you come to leave.

their favorite response is "it is not the right time to bring up issues when your ending the tenancy, you should have checked our photo disc!" sharks!

more of their tricks (so I've heard) is to up the rent without the consent of the owner (that one was caught when the tenant complained directly to the owner and was told he hadn't raised the rent!) the other trick they pull is to up the rent, after you've made personal arrangements to move in, but just before you sign the contract.

Bob

[RJLink]

Yes--big property management companies are to be avoided if at all possible. I also had one (in CHCH) raise the rent that was advertised as soon as I agreed to take the place. I should have refused on principle, but I really needed the place. I guess that's what they count on.