End of Tenancy Inspection and Bond Refund: An Auckland Landlord’s Guide
Quick answer: An end of tenancy inspection is the joint walk-through you do once the tenant has moved out and cleaned, and it is the evidence base for every bond deduction you claim. Since 29 June 2026 all bond transactions run online, so your photos and your work order need to be ready before you lodge.
A tenant hands back the keys on a Friday. You walk through on Saturday, notice the hallway carpet is flattened and stained, three door frames are chipped, the bathroom extractor fan is making a noise it did not make two years ago, and someone has left a broken bookshelf in the garage. By Monday you need to decide which of those is your cost, which is theirs, and what you are lodging in Bond Hub.
That decision is where most Auckland landlords lose money. Not on the repairs themselves, but on claiming for something that turns out to be fair wear and tear, or on failing to claim for genuine careless damage because there is no before-and-after evidence to support it. Tenancy Services draws a hard line between deterioration you are expected to absorb and damage a tenant is liable for, and the line is narrower than most landlords assume.
The mechanics changed recently too. As of 29 June 2026, all bond transactions have moved online using Bond Hub and integrated property management software, which means the paper bond refund form era is over and the refund now runs on a fixed clock with the tenant on the other end of it. If your make-good work is still being quoted when that clock starts, you are negotiating from a weak position.
This guide covers the four things that decide how a turnover goes: what the online bond refund process now requires, how to classify damage before you claim it, how to run a final inspection that holds up, and how to sequence the maintenance work into the seven to fourteen days you realistically have between tenancies. We do this work across Auckland every week, and the pattern is consistent: landlords who lose bond disputes almost always lost them at the inspection, not at the Tribunal.
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What Changed on 29 June 2026: Bond Refunds Are Now an Online Process
The bond refund used to be a piece of paper signed at the kitchen bench. That route is gone. Tenancy Services confirms that as of 29 June 2026, all bond transactions have moved online using Bond Hub and integrated property management software.
For a self-managing Auckland landlord, that means registering for Bond Hub. If you use a property manager, their property management software will handle it, and the tenant is contacted by email through that system instead. Either way the refund is initiated by the landlord, and Tenancy Services is explicit that the landlord starting the process is the quickest way for the bond refund to be paid out.
The 12-Working-Day Clock and What Happens If a Tenant Disagrees
Once you submit a refund request in Bond Hub, the tenant receives a notification with a link. Tenants have 12 working days to click the link in their notification and agree. Once they agree, the bond is refunded the following day.
If the tenant disagrees, the refund is cancelled and no payment is made. You then have to submit a new request, which resets the whole sequence. That is the part landlords underestimate: a disputed claim does not sit in a queue waiting for a decision, it collapses and you start again.
Separately, Tenancy Services states it takes up to 10 working days to process a bond refund once a completed application is received. Between the tenant response window and the processing time, a straightforward refund can still run a fortnight, and a contested one considerably longer. Where you and the tenant cannot agree on the amount, either party can apply to the Tenancy Tribunal, and mediation is available before that.
💡 Property tip: Get your repair quotes in writing before you lodge the refund request, not after. A claim backed by a dated tradesperson’s quote is far harder for a tenant to reject than a round number you estimated yourself.
What Goes Into a Refund Request
The Bond Hub sequence is short but it forces decisions you may not have made yet. You select the tenancy address, review the available bond balance, choose the refund reason, enter the tenancy end date, enter any landlord claims or amounts to be placed on hold, specify how the bond is split among tenants, then review and submit.
The “landlord claims” field is where the inspection work pays off. A claim entered without a corresponding photograph, an initial inspection report and a quote is a claim you are inviting the tenant to reject. Because rejection cancels the request rather than escalating it, a weak claim costs you time as well as money.
One long-tail detail worth knowing: if a bond refund is not claimed within 6 years of the tenancy ending or the refund being approved, the bond becomes the property of the Crown. Unclaimed bonds on old tenancies are worth checking if you have properties that changed hands years ago.
“The refund request is not the start of the conversation about damage. It is the end of one. If you are still working out what a repair costs when you open Bond Hub, you have left it too late.”
— Superior Property Services Team
Healthy Homes compliance note: A new or renewed tenancy is also a Healthy Homes trigger. All private rentals have had to comply with the five standards since 1 July 2025, and the standards must be maintained, not met once. Check the requirements on the Tenancy Services Healthy Homes hub before you re-let, and read our Auckland landlord checklist for the five standards if it has been a while since the property was assessed.
Fair Wear and Tear or Damage: The Test That Decides Who Pays
Almost every contested bond claim comes down to one classification. Tenancy Services defines fair wear and tear as “the gradual deterioration of things that are used regularly in a property when people or pets live in it”, and tenants are not liable for it.
Flooring that has worn thin along a hallway, a tap washer that has failed after years of use, paint that has dulled in a sunny bedroom: those are yours. Drawing on wallpaper and burn marks on carpet are not fair wear and tear, and that distinction is the whole ballgame.
Careless Damage and the Four-Weeks-Rent Cap
Where a tenant or their guest damages the property carelessly, they are liable, but not without limit. Tenancy Services states that tenants are liable for the cost of the damage up to 4 weeks’ rent or the landlord’s insurance excess (if applicable), whichever is lower. For income-related rents the figure is 4 weeks’ market rent or the insurance excess, whichever is lower.
Run the numbers on that before you claim. On a $650-per-week Manurewa three-bedroom with a $1,000 insurance excess, the tenant’s maximum exposure for careless damage is $1,000, not the $2,600 four weeks would suggest. A $4,200 carpet replacement bill lands mostly on you regardless of how the damage happened, unless you can show it was intentional.
Intentional damage by a tenant or their guests sits outside the cap. In that case the tenant must repair the damage or pay the replacement cost in full. Damage from natural events such as storms, floods or earthquakes, and damage from a burglary, is not the tenant’s responsibility at all.
| Category | Who carries the cost | Typical turnover examples |
|---|---|---|
| Fair wear and tear | Landlord | Worn carpet in traffic lanes, faded paint, tap washers, sticking door hardware |
| Careless damage | Tenant, capped at 4 weeks’ rent or the insurance excess, whichever is lower | Cracked hob from a dropped pot, water damage from an overflowing bath, chipped door frames from furniture |
| Intentional damage | Tenant, in full (no cap) | Punched plasterboard, deliberate burns, graffiti on interior walls |
| Natural event or burglary | Landlord and insurer | Storm damage to spouting, flood ingress, a forced door from a break-in |
| Uncleaned or rubbish left | Tenant | Property not left reasonably clean and tidy, tenant rubbish not removed |
Who Has to Prove What
The order of proof at the Tenancy Tribunal is worth memorising, because it tells you exactly which photographs matter. The landlord must first prove the damage is not fair wear and tear. The tenant then has to prove it was careless rather than intentional, or that it was neither.
That first step is the one landlords fail. Proving something is not fair wear and tear means showing the item’s condition at the start of the tenancy and its condition at the end, which is impossible without an initial property inspection report. Where a landlord turns up with only end-of-tenancy photos, the Tribunal has nothing to compare them against.
💡 Property tip: Age matters to the classification. A three-year-old carpet with a burn mark is a strong claim. A twelve-year-old carpet with a burn mark is mostly at the end of its life anyway, and the Tribunal will discount your claim accordingly.
Cleaning Is a Lower Bar Than Most Landlords Expect
Tenants must keep the property reasonably clean and tidy from the start to the end of the tenancy, and that includes removing their rubbish. Reasonably clean and tidy is the standard, not showroom condition, and Tenancy Services is direct that tenants do not always have to get the carpet professionally cleaned unless that is needed to bring the property up to that standard.
A blanket “professional carpet clean required” clause has no independent force if the carpet is already reasonably clean. Where a carpet genuinely needs commercial cleaning because of what happened during the tenancy, the receipt and the before photographs are what support the deduction.
The Final Inspection: Building Evidence Before You Need It
The final inspection is the single most valuable hour of a turnover. Tenancy Services recommends arranging a joint inspection after the tenant has moved out and finished cleaning, and taking photos in case there are any disputes over the condition of the property later.
The Notice Rules Still Apply at the End of a Tenancy
Right up until the tenancy formally ends, the tenant still has the right to quiet enjoyment, and the access rules bind you. Notice of an inspection must be given at least 48 hours before it happens, and not more than 14 days in advance. Inspections can occur between 8am and 7pm, and the maximum frequency is once every 4 weeks.
Tenancy Services also suggests conducting a property inspection a few weeks before the final day. That pre-exit inspection is the most useful one you will do, because it is the last point at which a tenant can still fix something themselves rather than have it deducted from their bond. Telling a tenant in writing that a final inspection will happen before the bond is refunded gives them a reason to take that seriously.
What to Take With You
Tenancy Services lists what a landlord should bring to the final inspection: the bond refund details, the tenancy agreement, the initial inspection report and a rent summary. The initial property inspection report is the document that decides most disputes, because it is the only evidence of what the property looked like before this tenant lived in it.
Bring a camera as well as a phone if the light is poor. When photographing, be careful not to include the tenant’s belongings where that is possible, and record the date on every image. If items have been left behind, photograph them and list them at the time rather than reconstructing the list later.
Work through the property in a consistent order and record every room, not only the damaged ones. A set of photographs covering an entire property carries more weight than three close-ups of the worst spots, because it shows you documented the condition rather than built a case.
Goods Left Behind: The 35-Day Rule
Abandoned goods have their own procedure, and getting it wrong exposes you to a claim from the tenant. Food and perishable goods can be thrown away immediately, and you must try to contact the tenant and give them a reasonable amount of time to collect their belongings.
After that, the value test applies. If the goods are worth less than the cost of storing, transporting and selling them, you can dispose of them immediately. If they are worth more than that cost, you must secure them for at least 35 days from the date you took possession. Where you sell the goods, you can deduct the cost of storing and selling them from the proceeds, and any surplus must be paid to Tenancy Services in the same way a bond is lodged.
💡 Property tip: Photograph abandoned goods where they sit, then again once moved to storage, and keep the receipts for the removal and storage. If you end up at the Tribunal on a disposal question, the cost evidence is what justifies the decision you made.
Smoke Alarms Are a Turnover Check, Not an Annual One
Working smoke alarms are the landlord’s responsibility, and they must be working at the start of every new tenancy. There must be a smoke alarm in every room where someone sleeps, or within 3 metres of each bedroom door, and in multi-storey or multi-level homes you must install one on each level.
Type matters too. All new or replacement smoke alarms installed from 1 July 2016 onwards must be long-life photoelectric alarms with a battery life of at least eight years, or a hard-wired system, and must meet the required product standards. Existing alarms do not need replacing if they work and have not passed their expiry date, so check the printed expiry, not just the test button.
The Turnover Work Order: Fitting Trades Into a 7 to 14 Day Window
Most Auckland turnovers have a gap of roughly one to two weeks between the outgoing tenant leaving and the incoming tenant arriving. Every day beyond that is lost rent, so the sequencing of the work matters as much as the work itself.
The mistake we see most often is running jobs in the order they were noticed rather than the order that avoids rework. Painting a hallway before the electrician has chased a wall, or laying carpet before the plumber has finished under the vanity, turns a five-day turnover into a nine-day one.
Compliance First, Cosmetics Second
Anything that has to be true on the day the new tenancy starts goes first in the programme. Smoke alarms, the five Healthy Homes standards, working locks and any outstanding repair the previous tenant reported are all non-negotiable start dates, not nice-to-haves.
Heating and ventilation are the two that most often blow out a turnover timeline, because both can need an electrician and neither can be done the afternoon before a tenant moves in. If the property has not been formally assessed against the five standards, book that early enough that any remedial install still fits the window. Our own Auckland guide puts a qualified Healthy Homes assessment at roughly $200 to $300 plus GST for a typical three-bedroom, which is a small line next to a week of vacancy.
Healthy Homes compliance note: A turnover is when the compliance statement gets tested. Every new or renewed tenancy agreement must state the property’s current level of compliance with each of the five standards, and an inaccurate statement is its own breach. If you are replacing a heater or a fan during the turnover, keep the spec sheet for the tenancy file. Full requirements are on the Tenancy Services Healthy Homes pages.
The Trade Order That Avoids Rework
The sequence below is the one we run on Auckland turnovers, and it holds for anything from a Papatoetoe unit to a Mt Albert villa. Wet trades and anything that opens up a wall or ceiling come before finishes, and floor coverings go in last.
| Stage | Work | Why it sits here |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Assess | Final inspection, Healthy Homes check, quotes for every claimable item | Evidence and pricing are needed before the bond request is lodged |
| 2. Services | Plumbing repairs, electrical work, extractor fans, heating install | These open up linings and ceilings, so they must precede any patching |
| 3. Make good | Plasterboard patching and stopping, door and hardware repairs, tiling | Substrate has to be sound and dry before paint goes on |
| 4. Paint | Touch-ups, full-room repaints, exterior only if the weather allows | Paint over patched work, never the reverse |
| 5. Floors | Carpet or hard flooring replacement, or commercial carpet clean | New floor coverings go in after every other trade has left the site |
| 6. Final clean | Builder’s clean, alarm test, keys and handover photos | Becomes the initial inspection record for the next tenancy |
What Turnover Work Costs in Auckland
Rough numbers help you decide fast at the inspection whether an item is worth claiming or worth absorbing. Our own Auckland cost guides put entry-level solution dyed nylon carpet at around $5,000 to $6,500 supplied and installed for a 100 square metre home, with installation rates commonly in the $20 to $25 per square metre range before any preparation or uplift work. The detail is in our guide to carpet laying and installation costs in Auckland.
Interior repainting is the other big-ticket turnover line. Our published Auckland range for a full interior repaint of a standard single-storey home is roughly $3,500 to $5,000, varying with condition and the amount of preparation. Between-tenancy touch-ups sit well below that, which is why a small paint budget every turnover is cheaper than a full repaint every third one. Costs and scope are set out in our Auckland interior painting cost guide, and for a full exterior or interior repaint programme our sister brand Superior Painters handles rental repaints as a dedicated service.
Set those numbers against the careless damage cap before you claim. If four weeks’ rent or your insurance excess is $1,000 and the carpet replacement is $5,500, the claim recovers less than a fifth of the cost, and the remaining $4,500 is a capital decision about the property rather than a bond argument.
When a Turnover Job Stops Being Maintenance
There is a point where between-tenancy work turns into a renovation, and running it as a turnover job is how timelines blow out. Replacing a worn benchtop, re-hanging doors, swapping tapware and patching linings is maintenance. Moving a wall, reconfiguring a bathroom or replacing a kitchen is renovation-scale work with a different programme and, often, consent implications.
We handle the first category as single jobs across the full trade network, which is what the seven to fourteen day window is built for. Where the scope crosses into renovation, Superior Renovations takes it as a project, and it should be planned for a vacancy period rather than squeezed into a turnover. A kitchen refresh that stops at cupboard fronts is the useful middle ground, and we have set out where that line sits in our guide to replacing kitchen cupboard fronts.
Where a landlord wants the whole turnover list handled without chasing five separate trades, that is the job we are built for. One call covers the assessment, the compliance items, the make-good and the final clean, and you get the whole turnover list handled by one team between tenancies with a response inside 1 working day.
The Turnover Runs on Evidence, Not Goodwill
A tenancy that ends well is one where nobody has to argue, and that outcome is decided months earlier by the initial inspection report and the photographs nobody thought they would need. The landlords who recover what they are entitled to are the ones who documented the property before the tenant moved in, inspected a few weeks before the exit, and had quotes in hand before opening Bond Hub.
Since 29 June 2026 the process gives you a fixed window and a tenant with a single button to press. Make the claim easy to agree with, and most tenants will agree with it. Make it a number without evidence, and you have bought yourself a cancelled request and a Tribunal application.
The maintenance side is the part you can control completely. Book the compliance checks and the trade work as one coordinated run rather than five phone calls, and the seven to fourteen day window stops being a source of stress.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is an end of tenancy inspection?
It is the final walk-through of a rental property once the tenant has moved all belongings out and finished cleaning. Tenancy Services recommends the landlord and tenant do it together, and that the landlord brings the tenancy agreement, the initial property inspection report, a rent summary and the bond refund details. Photographs taken at this inspection are the primary evidence for any bond deduction, so record every room rather than only the damaged areas.
How long does a bond refund take in NZ?
Tenancy Services states it takes up to 10 working days to process a bond refund once a completed application is received. Where the landlord submits the request through Bond Hub, the tenant has 12 working days to click the link in their notification and agree, and the bond is refunded the following day once they do. A straightforward refund can therefore still run a fortnight from lodgement to payment.
Do I still use the paper bond refund form?
No. As of 29 June 2026, all bond transactions have moved online using Bond Hub and integrated property management software. Self-managing landlords need to register for Bond Hub; landlords using a property manager will have the refund handled through that agency's property management software, which contacts tenants by email. There is no longer a paper route for a standard bond refund.
What counts as fair wear and tear in a rental property?
Tenancy Services defines fair wear and tear as the gradual deterioration of things that are used regularly in a property when people or pets live in it. Worn flooring in traffic lanes, faded paint and taps that leak from regular use are fair wear and tear, and the landlord carries that cost. Drawing on wallpaper and burn marks on carpet are not fair wear and tear and can be claimed against the tenant.
How much can I claim from a tenant for careless damage?
Tenants are liable for careless damage up to 4 weeks' rent or the landlord's insurance excess if applicable, whichever is lower. For income-related rents it is 4 weeks' market rent or the insurance excess, whichever is lower. On a $650-per-week Auckland rental with a $1,000 excess, the tenant's maximum exposure is $1,000. Intentional damage sits outside the cap and the tenant must repair it or pay the full replacement cost.
Do tenants have to professionally clean the carpet before moving out?
Not automatically. The standard is that the property is left reasonably clean and tidy, with the tenant's rubbish removed. Tenancy Services is explicit that tenants do not always have to get the carpet professionally cleaned unless it is needed to bring the property up to that standard. Where a commercial clean is genuinely required because of the state the carpet was left in, keep the before photographs and the receipt to support the deduction.
How much notice do I need to give for a final inspection?
At least 48 hours' notice, and not more than 14 days in advance. Inspections can take place between 8am and 7pm, and the maximum frequency is once every 4 weeks. Tenancy Services also recommends an inspection a few weeks before the final day, which gives the tenant a chance to fix issues themselves rather than have them deducted from the bond. Tell the tenant in writing that a final inspection will happen before the bond is refunded.
What do I do with goods a tenant leaves behind?
Food and perishable goods can be thrown out immediately. For everything else, you must try to contact the tenant and allow reasonable time for collection. If the goods are worth less than the cost of storing, transporting and selling them, you can dispose of them straight away. If they are worth more, you must secure them for at least 35 days from taking possession. Any surplus from a sale is paid to Tenancy Services like a bond.
What are the smoke alarm requirements between tenancies?
Working smoke alarms are the landlord's responsibility and must be working at the start of each new tenancy. There must be an alarm in every room where someone sleeps or within 3 metres of each bedroom door, and one on each level of a multi-storey home. All new or replacement alarms installed from 1 July 2016 must be long-life photoelectric alarms with a battery life of at least eight years, or hard-wired, and meet the required product standards.
How long should a rental turnover take in Auckland?
Seven to fourteen days is the realistic window for a maintenance-scale turnover, provided the work is sequenced correctly: assessment and quotes first, then plumbing and electrical, then patching and repairs, then paint, then floor coverings, then the final clean. Running jobs in the order they were noticed rather than in trade order is what turns a five-day turnover into a nine-day one. Renovation-scale work should be planned for a longer vacancy.
Does a Healthy Homes assessment need to happen at every turnover?
The five Healthy Homes standards have applied to all private rentals since 1 July 2025 and must be maintained, not met once. Every new or renewed tenancy agreement must state the property's current level of compliance with each standard, so a turnover is the natural point to verify it. A qualified assessment for a typical Auckland three-bedroom runs roughly $200 to $300 plus GST in our experience, and any remedial install needs booking early enough to fit the vacancy window.
References
- Tenancy Services — Steps to refund a bond (Bond Hub)
- Tenancy Services — How to apply for a bond refund
- Tenancy Services — Repairs and damages
- Tenancy Services — Inspections
- Tenancy Services — Landlords: ending a tenancy process
- Tenancy Services — Tenants: ending a tenancy process
- Tenancy Services — General maintenance responsibilities
- Tenancy Services — Abandoned goods
- Tenancy Services — Smoke alarms in rental properties
- Tenancy Services — Healthy Homes standards