Co-tenancy in NZ: One Agreement or One Per Room?

I have four apartments at Imperial Gardens in Auckland CBD, and I rent almost all of them by the room. Three bedrooms plus a car park in each unit, individual tenancies for each room, separate bonds for each tenant. It is more admin than a single joint tenancy would be, but I have stuck with this model since 2019 because it solves more problems than it creates.

This guide covers both models: the joint tenancy (everyone on one agreement) and the per-room model (separate agreement per tenant). Both are lawful. The right choice depends on the property and the tenants. Here is how to think through it.

Model A: Separate tenancy per room (my model)

In this model, each tenant signs their own tenancy agreement for their own room. Each agreement has its own rent figure, its own bond (capped at four weeks of that room's weekly rent), its own start and end date, and its own legal standing. The tenants share common areas - kitchen, bathrooms, living room - but each occupies their room under a distinct legal arrangement.

The key advantage is limited liability. If the tenant in room one stops paying, I only lose that room's rent. The other tenants are not involved. Their tenancies are separate. I issue a notice to remedy to the non-paying tenant, escalate to the Tenancy Tribunal if needed, and the rest of the house continues unchanged.

The other advantage is flexibility. When one tenant leaves, I fill that room without touching the others. No need to end and renegotiate the whole tenancy. Tenant turnover in one room is a minor event, not a full reset.

The disadvantage is admin. Each room is its own tenancy: its own bond lodgement, its own agreement, its own inspection cycle, its own arrears tracking. Four rooms is four tenancies. With four apartments, I am managing sixteen separate tenancy records. RentManager handles this natively - multiple tenancies on one property, each with their own ledger - which is part of why I built it.

Model B: Joint tenancy (all names on one agreement)

In this model, all tenants sign one agreement. One rent figure covers the whole property. One bond covers all tenants, capped at four weeks of the total weekly rent. All tenants are named parties to the same legal relationship with you.

The significant feature of a joint tenancy is joint and several liability. Under the Residential Tenancies Act, if one co-tenant does not pay their share of the rent, all the other tenants are legally liable for the full amount. Not just their share: the full rent. A landlord can pursue any or all of the tenants for the entire outstanding sum.

In practice, joint and several liability is a double-edged thing. It is excellent protection for the landlord if the tenants are a couple or close friends who would never let each other down. It becomes a source of serious stress if the tenants are strangers who each assumed the others would pay their share.

The admin advantage of a joint tenancy is real. One agreement, one bond, one rent due date, one set of records. If your tenants are a stable couple or a well-established group of friends who all move in and out together, a joint tenancy is straightforward.

Joint and several liability: what it means in practice

This is the rule that catches people by surprise. On a joint tenancy for $2,400 per week (four people at $600 each), if one person stops paying, the other three are legally on the hook for the entire $2,400, not just their own $600. The landlord does not have to chase each tenant separately for their share - any single tenant can be pursued for the whole amount.

What this looks like in a dispute: two tenants in a flatting situation fall out. One leaves without paying two weeks rent. The remaining tenant is responsible under the agreement for the whole rent. They can take their own action against the departing tenant later, but that is a private matter between co-tenants, enforced through the Disputes Tribunal, not the Tenancy Tribunal. The landlord's right to the full rent runs against the tenants as a group.

This is why I have moved away from joint tenancies for shared flat situations. When tenants know each other well, it works. When they are strangers sharing common spaces, the liability exposure creates exactly the kind of conflict that makes the tenancy difficult to manage.

Changing tenants mid-tenancy: joint vs separate models

One of the practical differences between the two models shows up when a tenant wants to leave before the tenancy ends.

On a joint tenancy, if one of four co-tenants wants to leave, all parties (the departing tenant, the remaining tenants, and the landlord) need to agree in writing to the change. The remaining tenants may need to agree to take on the departing tenant's share of the liability, or a new tenant needs to be found and added. This is not a simple process. It requires everyone's consent, and if any party disagrees, the departing tenant may be stuck until the tenancy naturally ends, or until the whole tenancy is ended by mutual agreement.

On separate per-room tenancies, the situation is much simpler. The departing tenant gives 28 days notice on their own periodic tenancy (or ends their fixed-term as agreed), and I find a new tenant for that room. The other tenants are not involved. Their tenancies continue. The transition is smooth.

Common property clauses for shared houses

Under either model, shared houses need to address common areas in the tenancy agreement or a house rules document that the tenants agree to. Key things to cover:

• Responsibility for keeping shared spaces (kitchen, bathroom, hallway) clean
• Noise: quiet hours, expectations about parties and guests
• Guests: whether overnight guests are permitted and for how long
• Parking: who gets which space, if any
• Rubbish: collection schedule, who is responsible for putting bins out
• Smoking: whether permitted anywhere on the property, including outdoor areas

For per-room tenancies, I include a set of house rules as a schedule to each agreement. All tenants sign the same house rules. This is not the same as a joint tenancy - each tenant is still individually responsible for their own room and only their own rent - but it creates a shared framework for the common areas.

Bond under each model

Under a joint tenancy: one bond covers all tenants, capped at four weeks of the total weekly rent. If the total rent is $2,400 per week, the maximum bond is $9,600. This single bond must be lodged with Tenancy Services in one transaction.

Under separate per-room tenancies: each tenant has their own bond. A room renting at $600 per week has a bond of up to $2,400. Each bond is lodged separately, each has its own MBIE bond reference number, and each is refunded (or disputed) separately at the end of that individual tenancy. The total bond held across all rooms may be higher in aggregate than a single joint bond, but the exposure per tenant is capped at their own room's rate.

Pet bonds from 1 December 2025

The Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2024 introduced pet bonds, effective 1 December 2025. A pet bond of up to two weeks rent can be taken per pet where a tenancy allows pets. This applies under either model.

On a per-room tenancy, a pet bond attaches to the individual tenant's agreement. On a joint tenancy, the pet bond is an additional amount on top of the main bond.

Utility on-charges in shared houses

When tenants share a property but have separate tenancies per room, splitting utility bills requires care. Utilities arrive as a single bill for the whole property. If I want to pass on water charges (as NZ landlords are permitted to do when metered), I need to apportion them between tenants.

In my Imperial Gardens apartments, I do this by equal share: each co-tenant in a three-bedroom unit gets one third of the water bill. The Residential Tenancies Act permits this as long as the tenant is not charged more than the actual metered amount, and the apportionment method is clear to them from the start.

RentManager handles per-tenant utility on-charges automatically: upload the bill, the system splits it by the configured method (equal share, or weighted by occupancy), and generates a charge for each tenant's ledger. Each tenant sees only their own charge, not the other tenants' share.

Guarantors and co-signers

Guarantors - people who agree to cover the tenant's obligations if the tenant defaults - are not part of the Residential Tenancies Act framework. A guarantor arrangement is a private contract, signed in a separate deed of guarantee between the landlord and the guarantor. If the guarantor needs to be pursued, that is done through the Disputes Tribunal or District Court, not the Tenancy Tribunal.

Under either tenancy model, a guarantor can be added to strengthen the landlord's position where a tenant has limited rental history or income. The deed of guarantee needs to clearly state what it covers (rent arrears, damage, or both), and both parties should take it seriously as a legal commitment.

How RentManager handles co-tenancy

I designed RentManager around the per-room model because that is how my own properties work. A single property can have multiple active tenancies at the same time. Each tenancy has its own:

• Rent schedule and arrears tracking
• Bond record and MBIE reference
• Pet bond (from December 2025)
• Inspection record
• Utility on-charge allocation

If one tenant falls into arrears, the dashboard shows that specific tenancy in arrears while the others remain clear. The rent ledger for each tenant is separate. A Tribunal evidence pack for one tenant draws only from that tenant's records.

Joint tenancies also work in RentManager: you set up one tenancy with one rent figure, add multiple tenant profiles to it, and the system treats it as a single rental. The choice of model is yours.

You can see how multiple tenancies on one property work in the live demo without creating an account.

Which model should you choose?

My rule of thumb: if the tenants are a couple or a close-knit group who move in and out together, a joint tenancy is simpler for everyone. If the tenants are strangers filling rooms in a shared house, per-room tenancies reduce conflict and keep each person accountable for their own rent.

The key question to ask yourself is: if one person stops paying, do I want the others to be liable? If yes, a joint tenancy gives you that. If you would rather keep each person's liability limited to their own room, separate per-room tenancies do that instead.

Where to find the official rules

Tenancy Services covers co-tenancy and change of tenant at tenancy.govt.nz. For related reading, see our guides on the tenant finding process, NZ tenancy agreements, and the Residential Tenancies Act overview.