Explained: The body corp rules most likely to catch apartment owners off guard

Monday, 2 June 2025

Laundry, parking and pets: These are the issues most likely to cause disharmony between apartment dwellers and their body corporates, an expert says.

It was recently reported a landlord attempted to have a tenant evicted, claiming he was running a brothel from his Auckland apartment.

The Tenancy Tribunal threw out the landlord’s claim after finding that because the apartment was also the tenant’s primary residence, he had not broken any rules by using the property for commercial purposes.

Most apartment buildings are governed by body corporates, who enforce the rules. We’ve put together a list of everything you need to know about these rules.

What is a body corporate?

When you buy a unit title property, such as an apartment or townhouse, you’ll likely be sharing common property with your neighbours, such as hallways, lobbies, driveways and elevators.

The body corporate is responsible for maintaining those areas, using levies from body corporate members - the people who own the units.

Any property containing 10 or more units must have a body corporate committee, with members who are voted in and a chairperson.

Under law, body corporates must hold an annual general meeting to discuss and vote on decisions which impact the property.

What sort of rules are involved?

The Unit Titles Act contains standard rules for body corporate members, including that they won’t:

• Damage, deface or leave rubbish on common property

• Create noise that will disturb other occupiers

• Park in areas not designated for parking

• Interfere with other occupiers’ use of common property.

Crockers general manager for body corporates Victor Jamieson said sharing property with others required tolerance and patience.

“Human behaviour is human behaviour, and what one person doesn't mind, another person does mind.”

Laundry, parking and pets

It was up to body corporates if they wanted to add more rules. However, some of those rules tend to catch people off guard.

“Laundry, parking and pets are the most common breaches,” Jamieson said.

Stuff previously reported on an Auckland apartment complex which emailed residents to remind them not to dry their washing on the balconies to maintain the building’s “stylish” aesthetic.

While most apartments came with one car park, many families had two cars, Jamieson said.

“So they tend to park in common areas where they're not allowed to park, or they park in visitors’ car parks.”

Renting out units as short term accommodation - such as through Airbnb - was also often not allowed.

But overall, the most common broken was the no pet rule.

What happens if the rules are broken?

If someone breaks the rules, the body corporate can issue them with a notice asking them to remedy the breach.

If the behaviour continues, the body corporate can seek an order from the Tenancy Tribunal to enforce the rules.

In the case of the no pet rule: “Either the body corp will make an exception or will change the rules to allow for the for the pet, or the owner will move out or sell their property and move to a more suitable property that allows for the pet.”

However, this would be by the owner’s own accord, as body corporates cannot force someone to sell their property, unless they’re willing to go to court.

Who can change the rules?

Anyone who wants a rule changed needs to put forward a motion at a body corporate meeting.

“If there’s a majority vote, which will pass the motion, then the body corp would hire a solicitor to have their operational rules updated with LINZ [Land Information New Zealand].”

The best way for owners to have their say is to attend the meetings, Jamieson said.

If they can’t attend, they can assign their proxy to someone else - such as a tenant or another owner - who can cast a vote or share concerns on their behalf.