The neighbourhoods
Te Aro & the central city
NZD 500–680 / week for a 1-bedThe flat southern half of the CBD — Cuba Street, apartment conversions, the bars and most of the city's eating, all within walking distance of every office
Commute: Walk to almost any Wellington workplace in 15 minutes
- Genuinely car-free living — the whole central city is walkable and flat
- The densest concentration of restaurants, bars and live music in New Zealand per head
- Closest to the ministries, Parliament and the CBD tech offices
- A lot of the apartment stock is converted commercial buildings, which is where the seismic question is sharpest — check the %NBS and the notice
- Noisy at weekends around Courtenay Place
- Smaller and darker than the equivalent money buys in the suburbs
Thorndon & Kelburn
NZD 520–700 / week for a 1-bedThe government quarter and the university hill above it — Parliament, the ministries, wooden villas and the Botanic Garden
Commute: Walk to Parliament and the ministries; cable car or a steep 20 minutes from Kelburn
- Walking distance to almost every government department
- Victoria University's main campus and the Botanic Garden on the doorstep
- Beautiful older villas with real character
- Wooden villas from before insulation requirements are cold, and the healthy homes evidence matters most here
- The Wellington Fault runs along this side of the harbour
- Steep — Kelburn is a genuine hill and the walk home is not a stroll
Newtown & Berhampore
NZD 400–540 / week for a 1-bedThe city's most mixed and most affordable inner suburb — the hospital, the zoo, a long high street of cheap food and second-hand shops
Commute: 10–15 minutes to the centre by bus; cycleable, with a hill at one end
- Best value inside the city and a genuine neighbourhood rather than a dormitory
- Wellington Regional Hospital is here, which matters if you work in health
- The high street is the most interesting eating in the city outside Cuba Street
- Older housing stock, cold and damp unless properly upgraded
- Bus-dependent — no rail line serves this side
- Parking is scarce and the streets are narrow
Miramar, Strathmore & Seatoun
NZD 480–640 / week for a 1-bedThe eastern peninsula — flat, sunny by Wellington standards, with the airport, the film studios and the best beaches in the city
Commute: 20–30 minutes to the centre by bus, or 20 by bike along the bays
- Flat, which in Wellington is a genuine amenity, and closest to the calm-water beaches
- Walking distance to the Miramar screen cluster if you work in it
- Sheltered from the northerly in a way the harbour side is not
- Under the airport flight path in parts
- Long way from the CBD by Wellington standards, and the bus is the only option
- Low-lying in places, with the coastal exposure that implies
Johnsonville, Khandallah & the northern suburbs
NZD 450–600 / week for a 1-bed; houses are the real market hereThe Johnsonville rail line — post-war family suburbs on the hills north of the city, with sections and schools
Commute: 20–25 minutes to Wellington Station on the Johnsonville line
- Family housing with actual gardens, at a price the inner suburbs cannot match
- The Johnsonville rail line runs into the middle of the city, so a one-car household works
- Well-regarded schools and quieter streets
- Suburban and car-oriented away from the station
- Long commute by the standards of a city this compact
- Newer stock, but the 1960s and 70s houses are as cold as the old villas
Lower Hutt & Petone
NZD 400–550 / week for a 1-bedA separate city across the harbour — flat, cheaper, with a beach, a brewery strip and its own centre
Commute: About 20 minutes to Wellington Station on the Hutt Valley line, running frequently
- Materially cheaper than Wellington City for more space, on a fast rail line
- Petone's Jackson Street is a real high street with the brewery cluster on it
- Flat — cycling is realistic in a way it is not on the Wellington hills
- A different city council, so rates, services and schooling zones are administered separately
- Parts of the valley are on soft ground with liquefaction and flood considerations — check the specific address
- You are committing to the train; the motorway in is congested at peak
How renting works in Wellington
Tenancies are governed by the Residential Tenancies Act and administered by Tenancy Services, so the rules are identical to Auckland's and Christchurch's. The bond is capped at four weeks' rent, a landlord may require no more than two weeks' rent in advance, and letting fees have been unlawful since 2018. Bond is lodged with Tenancy Services within 23 working days rather than held by the landlord — and since 29 June 2026 all bond transactions run online through Bond Hub. Rent can be raised only once in any 12-month period and only on 60 days' written notice. Security of tenure moved backwards recently: the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2024 took effect on 30 January 2025 and restored a landlord's right to end a periodic tenancy on 90 days' notice with no reason given. Every rental must comply with the healthy homes standards, and new or renewed tenancy agreements must state the property's current level of compliance. Viewings are usually group viewings and you apply afterwards, so arrive with your documents ready.
- 1
Get your paperwork together before the first viewing
A New Zealand bank account, an IRD number, references and photo identification. Wellington viewings are group viewings and applications are decided on paperwork rather than on charm. The applicant who can lodge four weeks' bond and two weeks in advance immediately is meaningfully ahead of the one waiting on an international transfer.
- 2
Look at the earthquake-prone notice, and check the EPB Register
Wellington is in the high seismic risk area under the Building Act — the category for a hazard factor of Z ≥ 0.3. Territorial authorities in high-risk areas had to identify potentially earthquake-prone buildings by 1 January 2020, and owners then have 7.5 years for priority buildings or 15 years otherwise to strengthen or demolish. An earthquake-prone building must display a notice with a colour-coded border on the outside. Crucially it can still lawfully be occupied and let, so the notice is information for you to act on, not a prohibition on the landlord. MBIE's EPB Register is public — look the address up.
- 3
Ask for the healthy homes compliance statement in writing
All rental properties must meet the five healthy homes standards — heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture ingress and drainage, and draught stopping — and any new or renewed tenancy agreement must state the property's current compliance. In a city of pre-insulation wooden villas this is the difference between a warm winter and a NZD 400 power bill, so ask for the statement and read it rather than accepting a verbal assurance.
- 4
Inspect for damp, mould and the direction the flat faces
Wellington's combination of old timber housing, high humidity and steep sections produces genuinely cold, damp flats. Look for mould in wardrobes and behind furniture, check whether there is a heat pump or only a plug-in heater, and note the aspect — a south-facing hill flat gets very little winter sun and is a different proposition in July than at the March viewing.
- 5
Understand the bond and the inspection record
Bond goes to Tenancy Services, not the landlord, and is refunded at the end when nothing is owed. Photograph everything at move-in and keep the property inspection report. This is the single most effective thing you can do to get the full bond back, and it takes twenty minutes.
- 6
Check the commute honestly, including the wind
Wellington is compact but vertical, and a suburb ten minutes away by car can be a forty-minute uphill walk. If you are relying on rail, check the walking distance to the station in both directions. And know that the exposed coastal and ridge routes are genuinely unpleasant on a bad day, which is more days than the photographs suggest.
Upfront cost
Four weeks' bond plus up to two weeks' rent in advance is the legal maximum and is what is normally asked. Letting fees are unlawful. So the realistic move-in cost is six weeks' rent — on a NZD 550/week flat, about NZD 3,300 — payable at once, which is why having a funded New Zealand bank account before you arrive matters so much here.
Where to search
Insider tips
- Ask the %NBS. It is a normal Wellington question, landlords and agents expect it, and an evasive answer tells you something.
- Check the aspect and the winter sun before anything else. A north-facing flat on a Wellington hill is a completely different building from the identical south-facing one next door.
- Ask specifically about the heating — a fixed heat pump in the main living area is a healthy homes requirement, and a plug-in oil heater is not the same thing.
- If you commute by rail, choose for walking distance to a station rather than for the suburb's name. Five Metlink lines run into Wellington Station and they are what make the outer suburbs viable.
- Consider Lower Hutt and Petone seriously. They are flat, cheaper, twenty minutes on the train, and the trade-off is a different council rather than a worse life.
- Get contents insurance and read what it says about earthquake cover. New Zealand's Natural Hazards Cover attaches to home insurance, and a tenant's contents policy is how you access it for your own possessions.
- Photograph everything at move-in and keep the inspection report. It is the whole of the bond dispute, decided in advance.
Avoid these
- Assuming an earthquake-prone notice means the building cannot be let — it can, and the decision is yours to make.
- Accepting a verbal assurance about healthy homes compliance instead of the written statement the tenancy agreement must contain.
- Viewing in February and signing for a south-facing hill flat you will heat from May to September.
- Paying more than four weeks' bond or two weeks' rent in advance, or being charged a letting fee, all of which are unlawful.
- Choosing an outer suburb on rent alone without walking the route to the station.
- Moving in without photographs and then arguing about the bond from memory.
Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.