NZ Building Answers

Flatmate or tenant: what's the difference legally?

Updated June 2026

Short answer

A tenant signs the tenancy agreement and is protected by the Residential Tenancies Act: a lodged bond, rent increase limits, notice rules and access to the Tenancy Tribunal. A flatmate lives in the property without being on the agreement, and the Act does not cover them. Flatmate disputes go to the Disputes Tribunal, which is why a written flat-sharing agreement matters.

Source: Tenancy Services. Updated June 2026.

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Key facts

Tenants are named on the tenancy agreement; flatmates are not
The Residential Tenancies Act does not cover flatmates
Money a flatmate pays as bond is not lodged with Tenancy Services
Flatmate disputes go to the Disputes Tribunal
Head tenants stay responsible to the landlord for the whole tenancy

Who counts as what

The label depends on one document. If your name is on the tenancy agreement with the landlord, you are a tenant. If you live in the house and pay your share to someone else whose name is on the agreement, you are a flatmate, and that person is the head tenant. Living with an owner-occupier and paying them board puts you in a similar position: the Residential Tenancies Act does not apply to the arrangement. The distinction sounds technical until something goes wrong, because it decides which rules and which tribunal apply to you.

What tenants get that flatmates do not

The Act gives tenants a set of protections that flatmates simply do not have:

A bond lodged with Tenancy Services and returned through a formal process
Rent increases limited to once every 12 months, with 60 days' written notice
Defined notice periods before a tenancy can be ended
Healthy Homes Standards the landlord must meet
Access to the Tenancy Tribunal if things go wrong

The head tenant carries risk both ways

A head tenant is responsible to the landlord for the entire tenancy: all of the rent, and any damage, whoever caused it. If a flatmate leaves owing money, the head tenant still owes the landlord in full and has to chase the shortfall themselves. If you are about to become a head tenant, price that risk before agreeing to it: you are effectively guaranteeing your flatmates' shares.

Any bond a flatmate pays goes to the head tenant personally, not to Tenancy Services, so its return depends on the head tenant honouring the arrangement. If that goes wrong, the claim is made at the Disputes Tribunal like any other private debt.

If you are a flatmate, put it in writing

A short written flat-sharing agreement removes most of the ambiguity. Cover the rent share and what it includes, any bond paid to the head tenant and the conditions for its return, how much notice each side gives, and how shared expenses are split. Tenancy Services publishes a flat-sharing agreement template you can adapt. Date it, sign it, and give everyone a copy.

It feels overly formal among friends right up until someone moves out mid-winter with the power bill unpaid. The document is for that day, not for the good days.

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