Do you know how much notice tenants are generally required to be given when the lessor/agent or a contractor want to enter to carry out repairs or maintenance or to show the property to a prospective purchaser or tenant?

How much notice do you think is fair?  Let us know by making a comment here or you can write and tell the Residential Tenancies Authority during their review of the Act.  We’ll post again soon and let you know the current situation, in case you’re not sure.

Read the RTA’s Discussion Paper by clicking here.

POST SCRIPT         What the law says is that for entries to show prospective purchasers or tenants or to carry out repairs or maintenance tenants must be provided with 24 hours notice in writing on a Form 9 Entry Notice (unless the tenant otherwise agrees). This is a very short timeframe made worse by the following. Because the time is epressed in hours not days or weeks, the RTA says that if the notice is hand delivered the time starts counting immediately. That means, if an agent or owner hand delivers an entry notice to your letterbox after you’ve picked up your mail on that day, you might not see it until a short time before the etnry is due. That seems unreasonable to us. In these circumstances 48 hours might be more reasonable.