A month in Queenstown

The Residential Tenancies Act does not apply where premises are let for the tenant's holiday purposes, nor to hotels and motels that ordinarily let for less than 28 days at a time. Tenancy Services says the Act does not apply when the tenant lives somewhere else and is staying in the house for a holiday. For a lengthy sabbatical or holiday, it says, the owner could contract into the Act to avoid any doubt.

The council draws its own line at 90 days. Paying guests hosted for under 90 days are short-term visitor accommodation; if the same guests stay for 90 days or more, the council classes them as tenants and the property as a rental.

Some owners use the tenancy route instead. A short fixed-term tenancy is a written agreement of 90 days or less, covered by the Act, and it becomes a periodic tenancy if extended past 90 days. Tenancy Services' own example is a Queenstown holiday home let on two 90-day tenancies between the owner's holidays.

No local levy applies: the council's proposed visitor levy is on hold. GST is 15%. Platforms have collected it on short-stay and visitor accommodation since 1 April 2024, but not on residential rental accommodation that is exempt from GST, which Inland Revenue describes as a home let to a tenant under a residential tenancy agreement.

Hotels and motels registered for GST follow a 4-week rule. They charge GST on the full value for the first 4 weeks, then on 60% of the value of the room and the services that go with it, such as cleaning and power. When a stay of more than 4 weeks is agreed up front, the 60% applies from the start. Food stays fully taxed.

The council's cap shapes the choice. In the lower and medium density residential zones a registered house may take paying guests for up to 90 nights a year without a resource consent, while the Queenstown, Wānaka and Arrowtown town centre zones have no cap. Ask a host outside a town centre whether the house has a consent or nights left for the year.

Wānaka suits a month in a second lake town, about 69 km from Queenstown. Arrowtown suits a month in a historic town about 20 km from the centre. Kelvin Heights and Frankton suit a house near the airport, and the town centre suits a month on foot, with council spaces free from 6pm to 8am. These choices are editorial.

An NZeTA lets EU and US visitors stay up to 3 months per visit and British citizens up to 6 months, with no more than 6 months in New Zealand in any 12, counted back from the planned departure date. Staying longer needs a visa before arrival, and working needs a work visa.

Immigration New Zealand asks visitors to show at least NZD 1,000 for each month of the stay, or NZD 400 a month when the accommodation is already paid, plus a paid ticket out within the permitted visit. Everyone completes a New Zealand Traveller Declaration, which opens 24 hours before the journey.

For the car, an overseas licence is valid for 18 months from the last arrival until 31 October 2026 and for 12 months from 1 November 2026, restarting on each new arrival. A licence not in English needs an accurate translation or an international driving permit.

Airbnb calls a booking of 28 nights or more a monthly stay. It charges the first month up front and releases it to the host 24 hours after check-in, charges each later month 10 days in advance, and applies a long-term cancellation policy that generally requires 30 days' notice of changes.

Booking a house in a suburban residential zone for a month without asking about the cap. Without a resource consent it may take paying guests for only 90 nights a year.

Paying a bond for a holiday let as if it were a tenancy. Tenancy Services says bond money from an arrangement outside the Act should not be lodged with it, so agree in writing how the host holds and returns it.

Driving to Wānaka in winter without chains. GetCar reports that chains must be carried on the Crown Range from May to September.

Arriving without proof of funds. Immigration New Zealand may ask for proof of NZD 1,000 a month at check-in or on arrival.