Rent payments

Find out how to make rent payments as easy as possible. We are here to help you.

  • Rent

    It’s really important you pay your rent on time and don’t get into debt. This can quickly spiral creating stress for you and your family. It is also a breach of your tenancy agreement.

    We are here to help you. If you know you’re going to miss a payment or have already, call us on 0800 624 456 and we can work with you to come up with a plan on how you can repay this and sustain your tenancy.

  • Income-related rent

    If you come to us from the Ministry of Social Development’s Public Housing Register you are eligible for the government’s income related rent subsidy. ŌCHT charges an agreed market rent and payment is split between the tenant and the government. MSD will review your rent annually around the anniversary of your move-in date.

    Once your rent has been reviewed, MSD will write to you to let you know if it is changing and what those changes will be. MSD will then send you a form to fill out about four months before your rent is due to change.

    Remember to let us know immediately if your circumstances change as your rent will need to be re assessed by MSD.

  • Assisted rent

    If you pay an Assisted rent, ŌCHT will review these each year around October and write to you if its changing and what those changes will be.

    Assisted rent is subsidised by ŌCHT to ensure tenants pay no more than 85% of market rent. The Trust also relies on MSD to help with affordability by offering the MSD Accommodation Supplement to eligible tenants.

    Whether you’re on Income-related or Assisted rent, ŌCHT will notify MSD of any changes and their effective dates for future changes to your charges.

    If you pay your rent directly to us, please make the change explained in the letter. If you need help, please give us a call on 0800 624 456 and we will help you through this.

Online payment options

Register for online banking with your bank. For most banks you can do this online or over the phone.

Once registered you can set up a new bill payment on the internet or from your mobile phone. Select Ōtautahi Community Housing Trust from the bill payee options available and fill in the payment fields as below.

Particulars

First initial and surname

Code

Payment reference number

Reference

Payment reference number

For more information on setting up online bill payments select your bank below:

Telephone banking

Contact your bank to set up telephone banking. For most banks you can do this by phone. You will need to ask them to add Ōtautahi Community Housing Trust to your list of available Bill Payees and fill in the payment fields as below.

Particulars

First initial and surname

Code

Payment reference number

Reference

Payment reference number

For more information on setting up online bill payments select your bank below:

What are the different rental streams?

The Trust has these rental streams across its properties:

  • They’re set by the Ministry of Social Development, and reviewed annually or when a tenant’s circumstances change.

  • They’re set by agreement between ŌCHT and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, based on an independent registered rent valuation. They’re reviewed annually.

  • They’re set by ŌCHT and reviewed annually. In 2021, any rent increase will happen in September.

How the rental streams work

  • New Trust tenancies are Ministry of Social Development (MSD) Income Related Rent tenancies.

    The Trust uses an independent qualified residential valuer to carry out a market rent review of its properties each year. The Trust supplies these rents, by property, to MSD. MSD approves the rent.

    MSD calculates the rent the tenant pays to the Trust – the IRR – which is usually about 25% of their income.

    MSD tops-up the rent paid to the Trust to the agreed market rent. It does this with the Income Related Rent Subsidy.

    MSD reviews the IRR annually or when the tenant has a change in in income or circumstances. MSD can increase or decrease the IRR paid by the tenant, or the IRRS paid to the Trust.

    Decisions about how much rent a tenant pays to the Trust are managed by MSD, and MSD informs the Trust how much rent to charge the tenant.

  • Assisted Rentals are tenancies that transferred to Trust management on October 2, 2016.

    If tenants are on an Assisted Rent, they will have no more than a net 5% rent increase a year.

    Rent increases were 3.9% in 2017, up-to 4% in 2018 and 3.9% in 2019 and 2020. Many tenants on an Assisted Rent may qualify for the MSD Accommodation Supplement.

  • Once tenants are housed by the Trust, they stay in the same rent stream until the end of their tenancy.

    On rare occasions a tenant may need to be relocated. They may be eligible to be rehoused through the MSD Housing Register. They would sign a new tenancy agreement with the Trust and would move to a new property on an IRR tenancy.

  • Rents are reviewed annually, in accordance with the Residential Tenancies Act. Tenants are advised of any rent increase 60 days in advance. The rent increase takes effect from the first rent charge in the new annual period.

How is rent affordability managed?

  • The Trust relies on MSD to determine an affordable rent through the IRR assessment criteria, based on the applicant’s personal circumstances.

    A tenant’s economic circumstances can change once they are housed, so MSD reviews tenant’s rent. Sometimes the IRR paid by the tenant can be set at either a market rent or above. The Trust will then charge 100% of market rent if MSD determines the tenant has the income and assets to support this.

  • The Trust’s assisted rental stream is a subsidised rent in which the Trust charges up-to the current cap of 85% of market rent. In addition to subsidising the assisted rent, the Trust relies on MSD to help with affordability by offering the MSD Accommodation Supplement to eligible tenants.

    The Trust does not review tenants’ income and assets as we do not have the right to directly access tenant’s income information in the same way that MSD does.