Fair Wear and Tear vs Damage at the End of a NZ Tenancy

The exit inspection is where a tenancy either ends quietly or turns into a Tribunal file. Almost always the argument is the same one: the landlord sees damage, the tenant sees a place they lived in for three years.

What the tenant actually has to do

Under section 40(1)(e) of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986, on termination the tenant must:

• quit the premises and remove all their goods;
• leave the premises reasonably clean and reasonably tidy, and remove rubbish;
• return all keys and access devices;
• leave the landlord's chattels in or at the premises.

Note what is absent: any obligation to leave it as-new, professionally cleaned, or repainted. The standard is reasonably clean and tidy, twice over.

Where the line sits

Usually fair wear and tear	Usually damage
Carpet worn along the main traffic path	A burn, tear or large stain in the carpet
Paint faded, scuffed at switch plates	A hole in the wall, or crayon across it
Small furniture marks on walls or floors	Deep gouges from dragging appliances
Worn door seals, tired hinges, sticking windows	A broken door, a smashed window pane
An oven element that fails with age	An oven caked from never being cleaned
Grout discoloured over years	Mould from never using the extractor fan

Two things shift items across that line: how long the tenancy ran, and what condition the item was in at the start. Three years of wear on a carpet that was already eight years old is not a claim.

Betterment, and why full replacement cost rarely gets awarded

If a tenant damages a carpet that was six years into a ten-year life, replacing it with a new one leaves the landlord materially better off than before. Adjudicators account for that: awards are typically reduced to reflect the remaining life that was actually lost, not the price of the new item.

Landlords who claim the full replacement cost of a part-worn item routinely recover less than they would have by claiming the honest proportion, and lose credibility on the rest of their claim while doing it.

The cleaning fight

Professional-cleaning clauses are the single most common flashpoint. The statutory standard is reasonably clean, and a clause purporting to demand more than the Act requires can be challenged. A property left genuinely dirty is a fair claim; a property left clean but without a receipt from a commercial cleaner usually is not.

If cleaning is the issue, photograph the specific problem. "Not professionally cleaned" is not a finding. "Oven interior with baked-on residue, photographed 14 March" is.

How bond actually works

Bond is held by Tenancy Services, not by you. It is released by agreement between the parties, or by order of the Tribunal. You cannot deduct unilaterally.

The sequence when you disagree: put the proposed deduction in writing with evidence, try free mediation, then apply to the Tribunal ($28). Most claims that fail do so for lack of evidence rather than lack of merit.

What actually wins

One thing: the entry record. Without a dated, photographed condition report from the start of the tenancy, a landlord is asserting that something changed and a tenant is asserting it did not, and the party with the burden of proof loses.

A defensible file has:

• Entry inspection, dated, photographed room by room, including oven interior, carpet edges, wall corners and window seals.
• Routine inspections through the tenancy, showing when the condition changed. These need 48 hours to 14 days notice, 8am to 7pm, no more than once every four weeks.
• An exit inspection against the same checklist, so it is a comparison.
• Quotes or invoices for the work claimed, and a sensible position on betterment.

If you are the tenant

Photograph the property the day you get the keys and keep the originals with their dates. At the end, clean to a genuinely reasonable standard and photograph that too. If a deduction is proposed that you believe covers wear and tear, say so in writing, ask what it is based on, and use mediation. Do not agree to a deduction you dispute simply to get the rest of the bond released faster.

Making the comparison automatic

This is an evidence workflow, not a legal problem. RentManager runs entry, routine and exit inspections off the same reusable per-property checklist with photo capture, so the exit report lines up against the entry report item by item and every photo carries its date. Maintenance reported during the tenancy is timestamped, which is what distinguishes a fault the tenant reported from one discovered at the end. Bond details including the lodgement reference sit on the tenancy.

Related: tenant damage and the four-week cap, who pays for rental repairs, and the Landlord Hub.

Common questions

What counts as fair wear and tear in a NZ rental?

Deterioration from ordinary use over time: traffic-worn carpet, faded or scuffed paint, small marks from furniture, worn seals and hinges, appliances aging out. It is judged against how long the tenancy ran and the age and condition of the item at the start.

Does a tenant have to professionally clean at the end?

Not unless the tenancy agreement genuinely requires it and that requirement is lawful. The statutory duty is to leave the premises reasonably clean and reasonably tidy. A blanket demand for professional carpet cleaning regardless of condition is frequently challenged and often does not survive.

Can a landlord deduct from the bond without agreement?

No. Bond is held by Tenancy Services and released either by agreement between the parties or by order of the Tenancy Tribunal. If the tenant disputes a deduction, the landlord has to make the case with evidence.

What is betterment?

Betterment is the improvement a landlord gets when a part-worn item is replaced with a new one. If a carpet was six years into a ten-year life, a claim for the full cost of a new carpet leaves the landlord better off than before the damage, and adjudicators reduce awards to reflect that.

General information about the Residential Tenancies Act 1986, current as at August 2026. Not legal advice.