The law for residential rentals says if the property is uninhabitable, you can stop paying rent, and you can give two days’ notice.
If it’s only partially uninhabitable then it gets tricky, because if the landlord doesn’t agree, a tenant will have to go to the tenancy tribunal to have the lease ended.
Dr Lucy Telfar Barnard, Senior Research Fellow, He Kāinga Oranga Housing and Health Research Programme, University of Otago, Wellington, said a house is also uninhabitable if it cannot be accessed without passing through flood-inundated areas, because residents cannot enter without being exposed to a health risk.
If a tenancy cannot be lived in, tenants do not have to pay rent. Landlords should have insurance to cover this. If they do not then it is not the tenant’s responsibility.
If the property is damaged, tenants are legally required to let the landlord know as soon as possible. That would also be a good time to talk about what rent will be paid and how long the tenants will or will not stay.
It is the landlord’s responsibility to pay for repairs to the house. It is important the house is dried out properly to prevent mould growth and that damaged or contaminated fixings are replaced.
Repairing the house might not always be possible or might take a long time. If the house has been destroyed or is uninhabitable tenants will not be able to live in the property and the tenancy may need to end.
