Rules & compliance
Can I Airbnb My House in New Zealand?
Short-stay hosting under 90 days in New Zealand is legal but regulated. You must register your property as either Residential Visitor Accommodation or a Homestay with your council. Resource consent may be required depending on your property's zone. Auckland charges business rates for rentals over 28 nights. Queenstown and other regions have zone-specific rules. Holiday rentals fall outside the Residential Tenancies Act, so standard rental laws do not apply.
The 90-day threshold and what it means
In New Zealand, the key dividing line is 90 days. Any paying guest stay under 90 days is classed as short-term visitor accommodation. If the same paying guests stay for 90 days or longer, they cross into tenancy territory and become protected under the Residential Tenancies Act, which means your property must comply with rental housing standards and you must follow formal tenancy procedures.
This 90-day rule applies to listings on online platforms, direct bookings through your own website, or any mixture of them. It is the total length of stay that matters, not the platform or how you market the property. Holiday rentals and short-stay accommodation are not covered by the Residential Tenancies Act, so standard rental protections and formal notice procedures do not apply to guests staying under 90 days. However, you cannot use the short-stay exception to avoid your council's zone rules or resource consent requirements.
Registration: Residential Visitor Accommodation vs Homestay
If you are running short-stay accommodation, you must register your property with your local council as one of two types. Residential Visitor Accommodation is when you rent out a residential unit or residential flat to paying guests for periods under 90 days without living there yourself. A Homestay is when you occupy the property at the same time as the paying guests, such as renting out a spare room, running a bed and breakfast, or a farmstay. Both types must be registered with your local council. Registration is not optional, and councils monitor properties to ensure compliance.
The registration process and requirements vary by council. Most councils require you to complete an online registration form and provide basic property and operational details including your intended guest numbers and length of stays. Some councils may charge a registration fee, typically ranging from zero to several hundred dollars depending on the council and property type. Check your council's website for their specific process and timelines. Most councils have online registration systems. After registration, you may also need to obtain insurance that covers short-stay commercial operations, as standard home insurance often excludes holiday rental business.
Resource consent: depends on your zone
Whether you need resource consent depends entirely on your property's zoning and your local council's district plan rules. Not every short-stay property requires consent. However, if your property operates outside the permitted standards for your zone, you will need to apply for resource consent before operating. Resource consent applications cost money and take time to process, so this is not a step to ignore or hope the council overlooks. For example, in Auckland's Residential Single House Zone, visitor accommodation of up to 10 people per site (including staff and visitors) is a permitted activity requiring no consent. Exceeding 10 people requires a resource consent application as a restricted discretionary activity, which involves a formal assessment process.
In Queenstown, the rules are similar but zone-specific. Homestays with up to five paying guests per night are typically permitted without consent and can operate any number of nights if they meet the definition of a Homestay. Residential Visitor Accommodation exceeding those thresholds requires resource consent. You can check your property's zone by entering your address into your council's online planning tool, such as QLDC's ePlan at www.qldc.govt.nz/eplan or Auckland's Unitary Plan interactive map at unitaryplan.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz. If you are unsure whether your property and intended use require consent, contact your council's duty planner before investing time and money in the property. It is cheaper to ask first than to discover mid-season that you have been operating without required consent and face enforcement action.
Rates implications: the cost of council charges
In Auckland, if you let out a separate area of your property on a short-term basis through an online accommodation platform like Airbnb for more than 28 nights per year, you will be charged business rates on that portion of the property. This rule applies across all of Auckland regardless of zone. The business rates are graduated based on the number of days the space is rented out. A property rented between 28 and 136 nights might pay 25 per cent business rates and 75 per cent residential rates on the affected portion. The council's default assumption if you do not declare your rental activity is that you rent between 28 and 136 nights, which could result in paying higher rates than if you reported fewer rental days.
Rates obligations vary significantly by council. Queenstown and other regions have their own short-stay rating policies. Some councils use a flat annual registration fee, others apply a rates increment on top of residential rates, and some use complex graduated scales based on nightly utilization. Always check your council's website for their specific financial obligations or contact them directly. Do not assume that short-stay ratings are the same everywhere in New Zealand. They are not. A property earning $30,000 annually from short-stay might trigger business rates of $1,000 to $3,000 per year depending on the council, so this is a material cost to factor into your financial planning.
Council rules vary by region
New Zealand does not have one nationwide short-stay rule. Each council sets its own district plan rules within the Resource Management Act framework. A practice that is permitted in one zone or region may require consent or be restricted in another. Queenstown Lakes District Council, Auckland Council, Christchurch City Council, Tauranga City Council, and others all have different thresholds for guest numbers, night limits per year, minimum stay requirements, and resource consent requirements. Some councils actively enforce the rules through compliance inspections. Others rely on complaints. This uncertainty is why checking with your specific council before starting is not just recommended, it is essential.
Before listing your property, check your specific council's short-stay rules, factsheets and any recent changes. Most councils provide clear guidance on their websites. QLDC publishes a detailed factsheet on how to operate short-term visitor accommodation within the rules. Auckland Council has specific guidance on business rates for online accommodation providers and zone-specific rules. If you operate or plan to operate in more than one region, check each council's rules separately and do not assume what works in one town will work in another. The compliance landscape around short-stay in New Zealand is still evolving, so check for rule changes when you renew registration each year.
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See Tideline House Ask about my propertyThis page explains the general position at the time it was written. Rules differ by council, by property, and by your own structure, and they change. Confirm your specific situation with your local council, your accountant, or a lawyer before you rely on it.
Last reviewed: 2026-08-04