90 day notice NZ landlord: count service time before the end date

For a NZ landlord ending a periodic tenancy, 90 days is not just a number to count from the day the notice is written.

As at 29 June 2026, Tenancy Services says landlords can end a periodic tenancy with 90 days' written notice without giving a reason, as long as the notice is not retaliatory. A shorter 42-day notice is available only for specified reasons, and the reason must be included if the landlord gives less than 90 days' notice.

The admin trap is service time. The notice period starts the day after the tenant is treated as having received the notice. That means the method of service can move the real end date.

This guide is general information for NZ landlords, not legal advice. Check Tenancy Services, use the current official templates, and get tenancy advice for your specific situation.

When can a landlord use a 90-day notice?

A landlord can use 90 days' written notice to end a periodic tenancy without giving a reason, provided the notice is not retaliatory.

That is the general no-reason pathway for a periodic tenancy. It still needs to be handled carefully:

• the notice must be in writing
• it must give the address of the tenancy
• it must give the date when the tenancy is to end
• it must be signed by the person giving the notice
• it must be served in a way the tenancy rules allow

The safest operating habit is to keep a full record, not just the final end date.

When is 42 days allowed instead?

A 42-day notice is narrower.

Tenancy Services lists three main situations where a landlord can use 42 days' notice for a periodic tenancy:

• the owner or a family member needs the property as their main residence within 90 days of the tenancy ending and will stay there for at least 90 days
• the property is usually used by employees or contractors of the landlord, or was acquired for that purpose, this was clearly stated in the tenancy agreement, and the landlord needs the property for them
• the property has been sold under an unconditional sale and purchase agreement that requires vacant possession

If the landlord gives less than 90 days' notice, the reason for ending the tenancy must be included in the notice.

So do not treat 42 days as a faster version of 90 days. It is a different pathway with a reason attached.

What is service time?

Service time is the gap between sending a notice and the law treating the other person as having received it.

Tenancy Services says service time depends on the method used:

• handed over in person: received immediately
• left in the letterbox or clearly attached to the door: received 2 working days after delivery
• posted to the address or PO box: received on the fourth working day after posting
• sent to the electronic address for service before 5pm: received that same day
• sent to the electronic address for service after 5pm: received the next working day

The notice period starts the day after the notice is received.

That means a landlord notice should not be recorded as "sent Monday, ends 90 days later" unless Monday is also the day the tenant is treated as receiving it.

What should the landlord record?

Before the notice is sent, record the decision.

Keep:

• the tenancy type
• the notice pathway used
• the reason, if relying on 42 days
• the official template used
• the signed final notice
• the address or electronic address for service
• the service method
• the date and time sent or delivered
• the date the notice is treated as received
• the first day of the notice period
• the tenancy end date
• tenant replies
• final-inspection, rent, utilities, keys, cleaning, bond, and maintenance tasks

This is not busywork. If the end date is challenged, the record explains how the date was chosen.

A simple 90-day notice workflow

Use this as an operating checklist before sending a notice.

1. Confirm it is a periodic tenancy. A fixed-term tenancy has different rules. Do not use periodic-tenancy notice logic for a fixed-term problem.

2. Choose the pathway. If no allowed 42-day reason applies, use the 90-day pathway and do not invent a reason.

3. Use the current official template. Do not rely on an old saved notice, an email draft, or a copied example unless it has been checked against current Tenancy Services guidance.

4. Check the address for service. Use the physical, postal, or electronic address for service that is available for the tenancy.

5. Add service time. Work out when the tenant is treated as receiving the notice, then start the notice period the next day.

6. Save the calculation. Keep the working, not just the final end date.

7. Plan the end-of-tenancy steps. Final rent, utilities, inspection, cleaning, keys, abandoned goods, maintenance, and bond refund each need a next action.

Where Keel fits

Keel does not decide whether a landlord can end a tenancy, replace Tenancy Services, or give legal advice.

Keel helps with the operating layer around the decision.

For a landlord with 1-5 rentals, ending a tenancy is rarely one clean action. It is a chain of dates, documents, tenant messages, approvals, inspection notes, maintenance jobs, and bond tasks.

Keel keeps that chain attached to the rental so the landlord is reviewing the workflow, not trying to rebuild it from email, texts, calendar reminders, and memory.

The takeaway

A 90-day landlord notice is usually a date-and-record workflow, not just a calendar count.

Before sending one, check:

• is the tenancy periodic?
• are you using 90 days or a valid 42-day pathway?
• does the notice include the required details?
• have you used the current template?
• how will the notice be served?
• when is it treated as received?
• when does the notice period start?
• what tenant replies and end-of-tenancy tasks need to stay with the rental?

The expensive miss is not only picking the wrong notice period. It is losing the record that proves how the end date was chosen.

If you want tenancy dates, notices, tenant replies, approvals, and follow-up tasks kept in one operating flow, see how Keel works for landlords.

Source notes

• Tenancy Services, Ending a periodic tenancy, last updated 20 March 2025, accessed 29 June 2026.
• Tenancy Services, Serving notices, last updated 27 June 2025, accessed 29 June 2026.
• Tenancy Services, Landlords - Ending a tenancy process, last updated 30 January 2025, accessed 29 June 2026.