New Zealand landlord’s list of house rules sparks heated debate

Tenants are banned from ironing a shirt or buying a pot plant, according to one landlord’s list of house rules. 

The landlord shared the lengthy list of house rules in an anonymous post to a private Facebook group for property investors in New Zealand.  

“Any extra clauses you add to tenancy agreements? Here’s mine,” the landlord wrote, followed by a list of 14 rules. 

While some of the rules were common sense, others were oddly specific.

“The tenant shall not have any pot plants inside or outside the property without the landlord’s written permission,” one rule stated. 

“The tenant shall not do any ironing or allow heat to be exposed to the carpets or floor coverings,” read another rule. 

Tenants were also banned from storing rubbish on the property for over seven days, hosting social gatherings, lighting candles, or parking a car whose registration was more than one month expired. 

A screenshot of the original post was shared on Reddit, where it raised questions among locals in the comments. 

“Is this a rental in North Korea or New Zealand?” a user wrote. 

“Here in Christchurch the rubbish bins are emptied fortnightly, would that mean the tenant would be expected to go to the rubbish dump on the weeks the bin isn’t emptied?” another person asked. 

While many commenters parodied the list of rules, others speculated they may be based on past negative experiences with tenants. 

“All of these are suspiciously too specific. This landlord has def had a tenant do each one of these before!” one commenter said. 

Another person chimed in, saying: “For every stupid rule I see at work, I just know it’s probably because someone did that very thing.” 

Renters also shared horror stories of past behaviour from fellow tenants. 

“I had a flatmate who ironed on the carpet and left the iron on said carpet after she finished. Lovely melted burn mark. One of many occasions where it seems she tried to burn the place down,” someone wrote. 

In New Zealand, landlords are allowed to add extra clauses to tenancy agreements as long as they do not breach the Residential Tenancies Act 1986. 

Clauses that contradict the Act can be deemed unenforceable by the Tenancy Tribunal.