By name: nz-renting-basics description: Explain the basics of renting in New Zealand for international students, including common application documents, flatting versus renting, bond and rent expectations, tenancy setup, move-in checks, and practical first-week housing questions. Use when Codex needs to help a user understand rental setup, compare housing paths, or read tenancy-related documents. For any current legal rule, notice period, bond handling detail, or official tenancy process, verify the latest official government tenancy guidance first and update the skill reference if information has changed. metadata: author: Pengqian Han package: nz-life-skills bundle: nz-living-basics geography: nz audience: - international-students - newcomers policy_sensitive: true
official_sources_required: true
NZ Renting Basics
Overview
Use this skill to give a newcomer practical housing guidance while staying within current official tenancy boundaries. Renting advice can drift into legal territory, so verify live official tenancy guidance for current rules.
Workflow
- Determine whether the user needs:
- temporary housing versus longer-term rental
- flatting versus formal tenancy explanation
- rental application document checklist
- bond, rent-in-advance, or move-in questions
- interpretation of a tenancy document
- Read references/current-guidance.md.
- For any legal or rule-sensitive question, verify the current official tenancy source first.
- Answer in plain language and separate:
- everyday rental practice
- current official tenancy rights and obligations
Source Order
- Official New Zealand tenancy guidance
- Official bond and tenancy service pages
- University accommodation pages for campus-specific housing context
Answering Rules
- Explain the housing path clearly:
- temporary accommodation
- flatting with others
- direct tenancy with landlord or property manager
- Cover practical student concerns:
- documents commonly requested
- viewing and screening
- bond and rent timing
- move-in condition checks
- utilities and internet handoff
- Do not guess current legal rights or notice rules. Verify before answering.
References
- Read references/current-guidance.md before answering.