Skip to main content
Work and income | Te Hiranga Tangata

Tell us if something changes

While you're living in public (social) housing, you need to let us know straight away about any changes in your or your partner's situation

Note

You need to tell us no matter how much rent you pay.

This could be changes to: 

  • income
  • assets
  • people moving in or out of the property
  • children in your care, for example having a child or changing custody arrangements.

Changes may affect:

  • the amount of rent you pay
  • whether you still qualify for public housing, or 
  • whether the property you're in is still suitable for you. 

If you don't let us know, you could end up paying the wrong amount of rent and may have a debt to pay back. Or you may only get a few weeks' notice before your rent goes up.

If you get child support through Inland Revenue

Inland Revenue (IR) will share your child support payment information with us every time they pay you child support.

We'll use the shared information from IR and treat this as income if you get one of these payments from us:

  • a main benefit, e.g. Jobseeker Support or Sole Parent Support
  • NZ Super or Veteran's Pension and you have a partner who doesn't qualify for this but is included in your payments
  • Veteran's Pension and you're under 65
  • Accommodation Supplement
  • Disability Allowance
  • Temporary Additional Support
  • Special Benefit
  • Childcare Subsidy
  • OSCAR Subsidy, or
  • Employment Transition Assistance.

If you get one of these payments from us, you don't need to tell us about most types of IR child support payments. The only type you need to tell us about is if you're getting Court Ordered lump sum child support payments.

If you don't get one of the payments in the above bulleted list, you need to tell us about your IR child support payments. You also need to tell us about any other child support payments you get.

How to tell us

You need to call us. Who you call depends on your situation. If you get:

  • a benefit or extra help payments from us, call us on 0800 559 009
  • NZ Super or Veteran's Pension, call Senior Services on 0800 552 002
  • no payments from us or Senior Services, call Housing Unit on 0800 673 468.

Tenancy reviews

As well as telling us about any changes, your tenancy may be reviewed from time to time.

Tenancy reviews

Updated on

Back to top