When you’re ready to make the move to New Zealand, you’ll want to find a rental property to get settled. Once you feel more at home, you might want to consider buying a place of your own, but it’s common to rent first. Renting is a relatively straight forward process and new arrivals have a large choice when it comes to housing.
Finding a property
A good place to start looking for a property is at real estate listings online. Here you’ll be able to check rental prices, neighbourhoods and availability. There’s a high demand for the best places so you must make contact quickly. You should always speak to landlords or real estate agents directly – so get in touch via email or Skype before you reach New Zealand. It’s important new residents get as much information as possible before renting.
Property Search
Renting a property
Although the rental market is varied in New Zealand, there are two main types of tenancies – periodic and fixed term. With a periodic tenancy, the contract can be terminated by notice if your personal circumstances change or you simply wish to move somewhere else. You will only need to give the landlord 3 weeks’ notice, whereas fixed term tenancies have a start and end date that cannot be terminated or changed. If you want more information, check out the website below:
Information for Renting
Cost of rents
When you first rent a place, you’ll need to pay some fees in advance and if you use an agent, you’ll have to pay a letting fee. The average rent for an Auckland property, according to figures recorded in January 2017 from Trade Me Property, was $520 a week. For property in the rest of New Zealand, the average was $395 per week. There are wide variations of costs but these figures are on average what you can expect to be paying. Also, be prepared to have at least 6 weeks’ pay upfront as you will also have to set up a bond.
Rates and household costs
In New Zealand, taxes imposed by the local government are called rates. When renting, these are paid by the landlord. All household costs, like electricity, gas, phone and internet are paid by the tenant. The power bill will vary depending on where you live, but there are many simple things you can do to save money on energy bills, such as turning off appliances when you don’t need them.
Insurance
If you’re renting, it’s highly recommended you get insurance. The landlord should insure the property, but it will not cover your personal belongings. So, it’s important that all tenants get insurance for their possessions and liability for damage that they might cause to the home. You can learn more about insuring your rental property below:
Rental Insurance
If you are interested to discuss a career move to New Zealand, please contact us.