Clients who cannot get a Bond Grant

Clients living in one of the following accommodation agreements are not eligible for a Bond Grant:

• accommodation owned by the client or their partner
• tents, including those joined to a vehicle
• homeless shelters
• prisons and correctional facilities
• accommodation for which they are receiving an Emergency Housing Grant or Transitional or Contracted Emergency Housing funded by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development

There is no discretion to approve a payment for a client living in one of these accommodation agreements.

Clients living in, or moving into, an accommodation agreement that the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 does not apply to cannot receive a Bond Grant for General Bond or Pet Bond costs.

These include, but are not limited to:

• a flat or house share agreement where the client has not signed a tenancy agreement (e.g. a flatmate that sub-lets from a head tenant)
• hire agreement for a relocatable home including a cabin, mobile home or caravan where:
  • it is on a campground and the client intends to stay for less than 51 days, or
  • on any other premises for any amount of time where the land and accommodation are not owned by the same person or
  • on a property where both the land and accommodation are owned by the same person, and facilities are shared with the owner
• a lodging arrangement
• a boarding agreement where the client is either:
  • in a boarding house with 6 or more boarders but the client intends to and does stay for less than 28 days
  • in accommodation where there are less than 6 boarders
• commercial accommodation such as hotels, motels, and homestays that the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 does not apply to. This excludes the following accommodation as they are not eligible to get Housing Support Product Assistance:
  • emergency housing funded by an Emergency Housing Grant
  • transitional housing funded by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and
  • contracted emergency housing funded by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development
• an additional occupant in a social housing property that is not a tenant or a signatory on the tenancy agreement

Clients living in one of the above accommodation agreements may be eligible to receive an Accommodation Security Cover Grant.

If a Bond Grant has already been issued for a tenancy, then:

• the Bond Grant cannot be revised or topped up to include the cost of a Pet Bond
• a second Bond Grant cannot be granted for a Pet Bond

Note if a Bond Grant is paid due to an increase in rent, any increase to the Pet Bond can be included as long as the total Bond Grant is at or under the relevant limit.

Example - Pet added after Bond Grant already paid

Lisa received a Bond Grant of 3 weeks rent for her current tenancy 3 months ago. She now wants to get a pet, and her landlord has requested a Pet Bond. Lisa applies for another Bond Grant.

MSD cannot approve a second Bond Grant for the same tenancy to cover the Pet Bond.

Example - New 52-week period, same tenancy

Jed received a Bond Grant for his current tenancy 15 months ago. He is now in a new 52-week period and has adopted a cat. His landlord requests a Pet Bond and Jed applies for another Bond Grant.

MSD cannot approve a second Bond Grant for the same tenancy to cover the Pet Bond, even if the 52-week period has reset. The tenancy is not new, and Jed does not risk losing it.