At the start of April 2026, I sat down for coffee and a chat with Brett Carter, Principal Tenancy Adjudicator for the Tenancy Tribunal. He’s the guy responsible for the efficient operation of the Tenancy Tribunal. If you’ve ever had to wait weeks to get a hearing, he’s the guy trying to get that wait time down. He’s got some interesting plans on that front. Read on.
When we met for coffee he’d come straight from a hearing, which, I’ll be honest, surprised me. I assumed he spent all his time on the business of running the Tribunal. But as he explained, it helps him keep in touch with what’s going on and, importantly, if he didn’t hear the case, it wouldn’t get heard that day. Great to see such a hands-on approach.
We talked about the delay in getting cases dealt with at the Tribunal, and what the causes might be. It seems to be a classic case of not enough resource to deal with an increasing, and increasingly complex workload. This is likely to be the result of increasing numbers of tenancies, more rules and compliance to follow and more understanding by tenants of their rights. That said, most cases are still brought by landlords, over 80%.
The Tribunal had an increase in headcount of one adjudicator in early 2025, and more recently is in the process of appointing three adjudicators to replace outgoing adjudicators. Brett said there were lots of high-quality applicants, so clearly there’s a good pool of qualified people to draw from.
There is clearly demand for the Tribunal’s services; There are qualified people wanting to work as adjudicators; So why can’t the Tribunal just hire more adjudicators to deal with the demand? In my view, it comes down to funding. If we (landlords & tenants) want more adjudicators to reduce wait times, there will have to be an increase in funding – there’s no way around it. That’s a political decision, not one for the Principal Adjudicator, but it is something that NZPIF can raise with the politicians – and we will.
It looks like there will continue to be an increase in caseload and complexity. At the time we met the Tribunal was about to hear its first pet consent case, related to last year’s law change. Brett thinks the new meth rules may generate additional work, even though the new regulations provide more clarity in this area. With new thresholds for contamination, and new rules around terminating tenancies at higher levels of contamination, there is still plenty of room for debate.
Interesting fact. When there are new issues like this, the first cases are dealt with by a small group of senior adjudicators to ensure consistency in approach. Learnings are then passed on to the wider group of adjudicators, and there is ongoing training.
The most common complaint about the Tribunal process is the time it takes to get a case heard. Given the Tribunal can’t do anything about the resources allocated to it by government, they’re looking at how they can make their process more efficient.
One of the things we’ve long asked for is the separation out of rent arrears cases, which are included in 70% of disputes brought by landlords. We’ve argued that they are the most straightforward of all the disputes, as it is clear if rent hasn’t been paid, and the legislative remedy is also clearly laid out. Our view was that there should be a separate channel for arrears cases, ideally all carried out online, to free up time for the Tribunal to consider more complex matters.
Our suggestion would likely have required additional resource, which isn’t available, but Brett and his team have come up with an approach that may deliver a similar outcome.
Currently, cases are allocated priority in line with the harm being caused. Things like statutory abandonment, assault/risk of harm and ongoing damage are priority one. Rent arrears was a lower priority, but the Tribunal has now raised that priority and is putting more focus on arrears and termination/possession.
The Tribunal are still refining what this will look like in practice, but it will be something like this:
- Setting aside dedicated days to focus on arrears & termination/possession and other urgent matters;
- On other days, dedicating time in the morning for arrears & termination / possession and other urgent matters
- separating out arrears/termination/possession from other aspects of a single claim, where several matters are bundled together.
By these means, they’ll be able to put more focus on arrears related cases and – hopefully – reduce wait times.
These changes will benefit both landlords and tenants, and that’s important to the Tribunal. Landlords suffer financial loss when a tenant stops paying rent, and the longer the problem persists, the worse it gets. On the other side, the longer the process takes, the more cost and debt is racked up by the tenant – better to get a quick decision and cut the losses.
As a rule, Tribunal cases expected to take two hours or less are heard online. Typically, arrears cases are set down for 45 minutes, so this means they should all be heard online, further streamlining the process.
Rent arrears is not the only issue being given more priority. Significant health and safety issues – such as a recent case of a bathroom with a missing floor – will also be given more urgency. Fair enough too!
The Tribunal is also considering incentivising participation in mediation by giving additional priority to claims that have been through mediation. That’s just under consideration at the moment but seems an idea worth trying.
These changes are starting to happen now, and the process will be refined as the Tribunal learns from experience. Results so far are promising, with one adjudicator handling 11 cases in one day (!) and feedback indicating that engagement from tenants is higher, and there is more positive discussion around repayment plans and conditional terminations.
Brett’s one caveat is that these changes might have a knock-on effect on other work at the Tribunal. This is a risk, but the gains that could be made make trying worthwhile. If the Tribunal can deal with the largest claim category more quickly and efficiently, it will reduce the wait time for other cases as well, in the long term.
Overall, I have to say this is a great initiative, which NZPIF welcomes. We also welcome Brett’s open and transparent approach, and the opportunity to hear first-hand what the Tribunal is doing. I came away with the impression that the Tribunal is working hard with limited resources to provide fair and timely dispute resolution for landlords and tenants.
By the way, if that’s not your experience or you feel hard done by after going through the Tribunal process, feel free to write to me at [email protected]. I’m happy to look at your case and raise it with Brett if I think your concerns have merit. It’s not a replacement for the normal appeals channel, and Brett can’t change decisions, but he’s always happy to have a look at cases of concern and if appropriate include any learnings or observations in the Tribunal’s ongoing training programme.