Flatmates and tenants in New Zealand, your rights and who is liable

Last updated 20 June 2026. This is general information, not legal advice.

Flatting is how a huge number of New Zealanders live, and almost none of them know which side of an important legal line they are standing on. Whether you are a tenant or a flatmate decides which law protects you, which tribunal hears your dispute, whether your bond is safe, and how much of someone else’s unpaid rent you can be chased for. The word everyone uses, flatmate, is in fact the category with the fewest protections, and people often discover that only when something goes wrong.

This guide sets out the difference between a tenant, a flatmate and a boarder, what each can and cannot do, the liability trap that catches people who sign a joint tenancy, and the simple steps that protect you whichever you are. It is general information, not legal advice.

Tenant, flatmate or boarder

There is one question that sorts almost everything out. Is your name on the tenancy agreement with the landlord?

A tenant is someone who has signed the tenancy agreement with the landlord. Tenants are covered by the Residential Tenancies Act 1986, they deal directly with the landlord, their bond is lodged with Tenancy Services, and they can take a dispute with the landlord to the Tenancy Tribunal. This is the protected position.

A flatmate lives in the rental but did not sign the tenancy agreement. A flatmate’s arrangement is with the tenant or tenants who did sign, not with the landlord. Because a flatmate is not a party to the tenancy, most of the Residential Tenancies Act does not apply to them. Their rights come from whatever they agreed with the head tenant, and a dispute between a flatmate and the tenant they live with goes to the Disputes Tribunal, not the Tenancy Tribunal.

A boarder usually lives with the owner of the home and pays board that covers rent and services such as meals. A boarder living with an owner-occupier is generally not covered by the Residential Tenancies Act either. The one exception is a boarding house, where six or more tenants live in a building and stays are 28 days or longer, which has its own set of protections under the Act.

So the everyday word flatmate covers the people with the least statutory protection, which is exactly why a written agreement matters so much for them.

Why the difference matters

The label is not just bureaucratic. It changes four practical things.

• Which law protects you. Tenants get the full Residential Tenancies Act, including healthy homes standards, notice rules and bond protection. Flatmates rely on ordinary contract law and whatever they agreed.
• Which tribunal hears a dispute. A tenant against a landlord goes to the Tenancy Tribunal. A flatmate against the head tenant, or flatmates against each other, goes to the Disputes Tribunal.
• Who you can hold responsible. A tenant can hold the landlord to account directly. A flatmate cannot, because their agreement is with the head tenant, who is the one carrying the obligations to the landlord.
• Whether your bond is in the government system. A tenant’s bond is lodged with Tenancy Services. A flatmate’s money is held by the head tenant and is not in that system at all.

Joint and several liability, the co-tenant trap

Being a tenant is the stronger position, but there is one trap in it that surprises people. When several people sign the same tenancy agreement, they are jointly and severally liable. That phrase means the landlord can pursue any one of you for the whole of an obligation, not just your share of it.

In plain terms, if the rent is $800 a week split four ways and one flatmate stops paying or moves out, the landlord can lawfully ask any of the remaining tenants to cover the full $800, not just their $200. The same goes for damage. If one person puts a hole in a wall, every named tenant can be held responsible for the repair, and it is then up to the flatmates to sort the money out between themselves. The Tribunal sees the named tenants as a group that is collectively on the hook.

This is worth understanding before you sign a joint tenancy with people you do not know well. It is the reason a flat-sharing agreement between the flatmates, recording who pays what and who is responsible for what, is useful even when everyone is on the head agreement.

The head tenant arrangement

Many flats run on a head tenant model. One person, or sometimes two, sign the tenancy agreement with the landlord, and everyone else is a flatmate paying rent to that head tenant rather than to the landlord. Landlords often prefer this because they only have to deal with one person.

The consequence is that the head tenant carries all the legal weight. They are the tenant in the eyes of the landlord and the law, they are liable for the whole rent and any damage, and they collect rent and bond from the flatmates. The flatmates, in turn, are legally answerable to the head tenant, not the landlord. If a flatmate stops paying, that is the head tenant’s problem to chase through the Disputes Tribunal, and if the head tenant does not pay the landlord, it is the head tenant the landlord pursues.

If you are the head tenant, you are taking on real risk for the people you live with, and a flat-sharing agreement is your protection. If you are a flatmate under a head tenant, your security depends almost entirely on that one person and the agreement you have with them.

Your bond as a flatmate

This is where flatmates most often lose money. When you are a tenant, your bond is lodged with Tenancy Services, held by a neutral third party, and protected by the bond rules. When you are a flatmate paying bond to a head tenant, none of that applies. The money sits with the head tenant, who should give you a written receipt, and getting it back at the end depends on them.

That makes two things important. Get a written receipt for any bond you pay a head tenant, and put the terms of how and when it is returned into a flat-sharing agreement. If a head tenant refuses to return a flatmate’s bond unfairly, the flatmate’s remedy is the Disputes Tribunal, because this is not a tenancy matter. It is a far weaker position than a tenant whose bond is safely in the government system, which is one more reason to try to get onto the tenancy agreement proper if you can.

The flat-sharing agreement

Because flatmates fall outside the Residential Tenancies Act, the written flat-sharing agreement is the main thing standing between you and a messy dispute. It is an ordinary contract between the people in the flat, and Tenancy Services publishes a flat-sharing agreement template you can use.

A good flat-sharing agreement records the rent each person pays, how the bond is held and returned, how much notice someone has to give before leaving, how shared bills and chores work, and the house rules on things like pets and guests. It gives a flatmate something real, for example the comfort of knowing they cannot be told to leave with no notice, and it gives the head tenant a clear record of what each flatmate owes. The template agreement is commonly ended by 14 days’ written notice from either side, with the head tenant returning the bond at the end. None of this is enforced by the Tenancy Tribunal, but it is enforceable as a contract through the Disputes Tribunal, and just having it written down prevents most arguments from starting.

Leaving a flat or a joint tenancy

Getting out cleanly depends, again, on which you are.

If you are a flatmate, you leave according to your flat-sharing agreement, usually by giving the agreed notice, commonly 14 days, to the head tenant. Your obligation is to that agreement.

If you are a co-tenant on a joint tenancy, it is harder than people expect, and this is a common and expensive misunderstanding. You cannot simply give notice for your room and walk away from the agreement, because you signed the whole tenancy along with the others. Until you are properly removed from the tenancy, you remain liable for your share of the rent and the damage, even after you have moved out. Getting off a joint tenancy generally needs the landlord’s agreement, usually by varying the agreement to remove your name and often adding a replacement tenant, recorded on a change of tenant form. The landlord has to consider a reasonable request to remove or replace a tenant and cannot unreasonably refuse it, but it is not automatic, and until the change is made in writing the joint and several rule means you are still on the hook.

How to protect yourself

• Get on the tenancy agreement if you can. Being a named tenant is the strongest position. Your bond is protected, you deal with the landlord directly, and you have the Tenancy Tribunal. Ask the landlord whether you can be added.
• If you are a flatmate, get a written flat-sharing agreement. Use the Tenancy Services template, and make sure it covers the bond, the notice period and how bills are split.
• Always get a receipt for bond and rent you pay a head tenant, and keep a record of every payment.
• Understand joint and several liability before signing a joint tenancy, because you may end up covering a flatmate who does not pay.
• Sort leaving properly. Flatmates follow the flat-sharing agreement. Co-tenants need the landlord to remove their name before they stop being liable.

The takeaway

The difference between a tenant and a flatmate is one of the most important things in renting, and the word most people use, flatmate, is the weaker position. If your name is on the tenancy agreement you have the full protection of tenancy law and the Tenancy Tribunal. If it is not, you are relying on contract law, the Disputes Tribunal and whatever you agreed with the head tenant. Know which you are, get the agreement in writing, keep your receipts, and understand that a joint tenancy ties you to your flatmates until the landlord formally lets you off. Those few steps prevent the great majority of flatting disputes.

Related guides

• Your rights as a tenant in New Zealand
• How to get your bond back in New Zealand
• How to take someone to the Disputes Tribunal in New Zealand

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a flatmate and a tenant in New Zealand

A tenant has signed the tenancy agreement with the landlord and is covered by the Residential Tenancies Act, with bond protection and access to the Tenancy Tribunal. A flatmate lives in the rental but did not sign the agreement, deals with the head tenant rather than the landlord, and is not covered by most of that law. Flatmate disputes go to the Disputes Tribunal.

Are flatmates covered by the Residential Tenancies Act

Generally no. A flatmate who is not named on the tenancy agreement is not a party to the tenancy, so most of the Residential Tenancies Act does not apply to them. Their rights come from their agreement with the head tenant, enforceable as a contract through the Disputes Tribunal rather than the Tenancy Tribunal.

Can I be made to pay my flatmate’s unpaid rent

If you are a co-tenant on a joint tenancy, yes. Co-tenants are jointly and severally liable, so the landlord can pursue any named tenant for the full rent and all damage, not just their share. If a flatmate who is not on the agreement does not pay, that is the head tenant’s loss to chase, not the landlord’s claim against the other flatmates.

Is my bond safe if I pay it to a head tenant

It is not in the government bond system. Only a tenant’s bond is lodged with Tenancy Services. A flatmate’s bond is held by the head tenant, so get a written receipt and put the return terms in a flat-sharing agreement. If it is not returned fairly, your remedy is the Disputes Tribunal, not the Tenancy Tribunal.

How do I leave a joint tenancy without staying liable

You generally need the landlord to agree to remove your name from the tenancy agreement, usually by varying it and adding a replacement tenant on a change of tenant form. The landlord must consider a reasonable request and cannot unreasonably refuse, but it is not automatic, and until it is done in writing you remain jointly and severally liable for the rent and damage even after you have moved out. Simply giving notice for your room does not release you from a joint tenancy.

Can a head tenant make a flatmate leave

A flatmate is not protected by the Residential Tenancies Act notice rules, so the notice they get is whatever the flat-sharing agreement says, commonly 14 days. This is exactly why a written agreement matters for a flatmate, because without one there is little certainty about notice. Disputes about it go to the Disputes Tribunal.

What is a boarder, and are they covered

A boarder usually lives with the owner of the home and pays board that includes services such as meals. A boarder living with an owner-occupier is generally not covered by the Residential Tenancies Act. The exception is a boarding house with six or more tenants where stays are 28 days or more, which has its own protections under the Act.

Have you been caught out by the flatmate and tenant distinction in New Zealand, or sorted a flat dispute at the Disputes Tribunal? Tell us how it went in the comments below.