Minor Changes a Tenant Can Make to a Rental (and How a Landlord Should Respond) - NZ

Where this rule comes from

The right to make minor changes came in with the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2020 and took effect on 11 February 2021. It is settled law, not one of the recent 2024 changes, but it is still widely misunderstood by landlords who think they can refuse any alteration outright. They cannot. The detail is set out by Tenancy Services under tenants making changes to the property, and the underlying provisions sit in the Residential Tenancies Act 1986.

What counts as a minor change

A minor change is a low-risk change that can be reversed and that does not materially change the property. The Act lists factors, and the common examples are:

• Securing furniture or heavy items to walls (earthquake safety).
• Baby gates, safety latches and visual fire alarms.
• Brackets for shelves, mirrors or pictures.
• Curtains or blinds.
• Small garden changes.
• Dishwasher or washing-machine connections where the plumbing already exists.

A change is more likely to be minor if it is low-risk, can be reversed by the end of the tenancy, does not need consent from anyone else (like a body corporate or the council), and does not breach any other law.

What is NOT a minor change

Structural work, anything needing a building consent, painting the whole house, removing walls, or anything that would be hard or expensive to reverse is not a minor change and needs the landlord's ordinary consent.

The process, step by step

1. The tenant makes the request in writing, describing the change.
2. The landlord must respond in writing within 21 days.
3. The landlord cannot unreasonably decline a minor change, but can attach reasonable conditions: for example, that a qualified tradesperson does the work, that it meets building or other standards, and that the tenant reinstates the property at the end of the tenancy.
4. The tenant pays for the change and for reinstatement, unless you agree otherwise.

If the landlord does not respond within 21 days, the request is not automatically approved, but failing to respond is itself a breach the tenant can take to the Tribunal.

Reasonable conditions a landlord can attach

• The work is done in a professional manner, by a suitably qualified person where the change needs one (electrical, gas, plumbing).
• The change complies with relevant building codes and other laws.
• The tenant returns the property to its original condition at the end of the tenancy, fair wear and tear aside.

You cannot use conditions to effectively block a reasonable minor change. A condition has to be genuinely reasonable.

Why landlords should lean into this

Most minor-change requests make the property safer or more liveable at no cost to you, and a tenant who has fixed their own shelves and secured the bookcase is a tenant who is settling in for the long term. Saying yes well is cheaper than a Tribunal argument about an unreasonable refusal. The same logic applies to a sensible pet policy, and it sits alongside the wider set of tenant rights a NZ landlord needs to know.

How RentManager handles this

RentManager records the tenant's request, your written response and the date, and any reinstatement condition you attached, against the tenancy. When the tenancy ends, the reinstatement condition is right there on the file, so the end-of-tenancy conversation is about an agreed condition, not a memory.

Frequently asked questions

Can a tenant put up shelves or secure furniture without asking?
They must request it in writing, but it is a minor change and the landlord cannot unreasonably refuse. The landlord responds in writing within 21 days.

How long does a landlord have to respond to a minor-change request?
21 days, in writing.

Who pays for a minor change?
The tenant pays for the change and for reinstating the property at the end of the tenancy, unless the landlord agrees otherwise.

Can a landlord refuse a minor change?
Only on reasonable grounds. They can attach reasonable conditions but cannot unreasonably decline a genuine minor change.