The tenant had previously denied the agent access unless he obtained an order from the Tribunal. He otherwise denied he had received the required written notices regarding the inspections and denied access because he believed the agent would undertake maintenance work for which he was unqualified.

• The Tribunal is satisfied that the tenant has had no factual or legal basis to deny access to the premises to the agent;
• The Tribunal is satisfied that the evidence establishes on the balance of probabilities that the tenant has committed a breach of the residential tenancy agreement by denying access to the agent to conduct inspections and that breach is sufficiently serious to justify termination;
• The Tribunal will terminate the tenancy.

Residential Tenancy - Landlord application - Termination and vacant possession - Breach of agreement - Access

Residential Tenancies Act 1995 ss 72, 87, 110, 120

Mr Abbott, Hot Property Real Estate, appeared for the applicant by telephone

Made under the Residential Tenancies Act 1995 ss 87, 110(1)

1. There is a tenancy agreement under the Residential Tenancies Act 1995 (the Act).
2. Under s 87(1) of the Act the Tribunal may terminate a residential tenancy agreement if it is satisfied that the tenant has committed a breach and the breach is sufficiently serious to justify termination of the tenancy.
3. The grounds on which the application is made are the failure of the tenant to allow access to the agent to conduct routine inspections and maintenance visits.
4. Rent was last paid on 28 November 2025. Rent is currently paid to Thursday 13 November 2025 with a credit of $940.00. Rent arrears at the day of the hearing are $2,010.00. This does not take into account rent in advance.
5. There is a history of disputation concerning this tenancy, including for rent arrears, but the focus of this decision is the alleged failure of the tenant to allow access for inspections.
6. The agent gave the following evidence in support of the application:
   1. he served a notice on the tenant for the first inspection after the commencement of the tenancy. This inspection took place on 8 May 2025 when access was granted by the tenant;
   2. on 9 July 2025, he served a notice to access the premises to attend to maintenance of leaking taps on 15 July 2025. The tenant was at home but denied him access. The tenant had emailed the agent on 14 July 2025 that he would deny the agent access unless there were a Tribunal order;
   3. on 12 August 2025, the agent served a notice for a routine inspection on 29 August 2025. The tenant was at home but would not allow access. The tenant had emailed the agent on 28 August 2025 that he would not allow access because no licensed contractor had been engaged by the agent;
   4. the agent served a notice for an inspection to take place on 15 September 2025. The tenant was at home but denied access;
   5. on 2 October 2025, the agent served a notice for access for a routine inspection on 9 October 2025. That inspection did not take place. Instead an inspection occurred (and access was given) on 13 October 2025 pursuant to orders of the Tribunal made in 2025/SH010268; and
   6. on 18 November 2025, the agent served a notice for an inspection on 5 December 2025. The tenant was at home but denied access to the agent.
7. The agent said that his usual practice is to send an "in house" notice of a proposed inspection by letter but that the letter complies with the requirements of the Act for such notices. The agent said that it is his practice to serve access notices by email and that he did so in the case of each of the above notices. He has supplied the Tribunal with a copy of the email sent to the tenant on 18 November 2025 with the "in house" notice of the inspection planned for 5 December 2025. That "in house" notice is compliant with the Act. Moreover, the "in house" notice was accompanied by the formal CBS notice to be given under s 72.
8. In short, the agent described six attempts to gain access to the premises, of which four were unsuccessful because the tenant denied access. Aside from the initial inspection in May, the tenant has only allowed access on the occasion when ordered to do so by the Tribunal.
9. I found the agent to be a credible witness and I have no reason to doubt the evidence he has given to the Tribunal.
10. The agent indicated that, if he were granted access by the tenant or the Tribunal, he would make inspecting this property his priority. He said that he needs to check on the status of certain repairs and cleaning work that he identified at the inspection on 13 October 2025 that needed attention by the tenant and that he has been unable to determine whether that has been done as he has not been given access to the premises.
11. The tenant disputed the application and denied that he has received any notices from the agent for proposed inspections. I do not accept this evidence because it is inconsistent with the evidence given by the agent that the tenant emailed him on 14 July 2025 and 28 August 2025 refusing him access for the imminent inspections and it is inconsistent with the clear evidence of an email being sent to the tenant from the agent attaching the notice of 18 November 2025. On the whole, I accept the evidence of the agent over the evidence of the tenant on this point.
12. The tenant's written submissions on what constitutes service of a notice under the Act are misconceived. Service by email is valid service under s 120 of the Act and the notice is taken to be served at the time of transmission.
13. The tenant said that he denied the agent access because the agent was intending on doing illegal plumbing work for which he was unqualified and that he has made things worse. The agent denied this and said that he has never done anything that was outside the scope of what a handyman would do. He said that he does only minor maintenance tasks and otherwise would get a tradesperson to attend premises. He said that, on the two occasions he has attended at the premises (in May and in October), he removed, cleaned and replaced an aerator from a tap; used a refacing tool to reface a pipe and made it safe for permanent use; and removed a flow adjuster from the shower head in the main bathroom.
14. I am satisfied that the tenant has had no factual or legal basis to deny access to the premises to the agent.
15. The tenant said that he would have no issues allowing the agent future access to the premises if he were served a lawful notice under the Act. However, I do not accept that the tenant would do so as he has failed to give access when served notices on four occasions this year. I have no reason to conclude that his attitude to the agent having access has altered.
16. I am well satisfied that the evidence establishes on the balance of probabilities that the tenant has committed a breach of the residential tenancy agreement by denying access to the agent to conduct inspections. That breach is sufficiently serious to justify termination of the tenancy.
17. Therefore I will terminate the tenancy and order the tenant must move out on Monday 5 January 2026.
18. At the date of vacant possession rent arrears will be $3,527.14.

1. The tenant must move out of the premises by midday on Monday 5 January 2026 but if the tenant does not move out, this order may only be enforced by the Tribunal bailiff.
2. The bond of $2,360.00 (Bond No. 4620694-1) will be paid to the landlord (via the agent) after Monday 5 January 2026.
3. The tenant must pay to the landlord (via the agent) $1,167.14 within 14 days of the date of this order. If the tenant does not pay, this order may be enforced in the Magistrates Court.