NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE, No. 69 — 25 JUNE 2015

(i) a tenant of any social housing; or
(ii) a person who is awaiting allocation of social housing; or
(iii) a person who has contacted the department or the agency in regard to the person’s housing need;
and
(b) the applicant is a tenant under a tenancy agreement for alternative housing that requires the tenant or
tenants to pay rent in advance at the start of the tenancy; and
(c) in the chief executive’s opinion having regard to sustainability, the applicant is likely to be able to
retain alternative housing.
(2) Subclause (1) is subject to clauses 41 and 42.

41 Rent in advance assistance: ineligibility
An applicant is ineligible for rent in advance assistance if he or she has cash assets or income in excess of the
cash assets limit or the income limit.

42 Rent in advance assistance: restrictions on grant
Only 1 grant of rent in advance assistance may be made to an applicant or his or her spouse or partner (if any)
in a 52-week period.

43 Rent in advance assistance: principles to be applied in exercise of discretion to grant assistance
In exercising the discretion under clause 6(1), the chief executive must have regard to—
(a) the reasons the applicant needs rent in advance assistance; and
(b) whether other assistance or an advance payment of a benefit under the Act in respect of rent in
advance is available to the applicant; and
(c) any other matters the chief executive considers relevant.

44 Rent in advance assistance: amounts and limits
(1) The amount of any rent in advance assistance under clause 6(1) must be set by the chief executive within
the limits set out in subclause (2).
(2) The total amount any rent in advance assistance must not exceed the lesser of the following amounts:
(a) the amount of the rent in advance payable by the applicant for the alternative housing (not exceeding
the amount that is equivalent to 2 weeks’ rent for that housing):
(b) $1,000.”

12. New Part 3 inserted
After Part 2, insert:

“Part 3
Conditional grant letter assistance

45 Purpose of this Part
The purpose of this Part is—
(a) to provide conditional grants of assistance to people who are disadvantaged in the housing market to
alleviate the hardship of having to meet the cost of bonds, rent in advance, and letting fees from their own
resources to enter alternative housing; and
(b) to provide written assurance to the people referred to in paragraph (a) that they will be able to access
financial assistance towards the costs of entering a tenancy for that housing and thereby encourage
private sector landlords to let alternative housing to them.

46 Conditional grant letter assistance: eligibility
An applicant who meets the residential criteria is eligible to be considered for conditional grant letter
assistance under this Part if the chief executive is satisfied that the applicant (whether alone or together with
any other person),—
(a) is either—
(i) awaiting allocation of social housing; or
(ii) in social housing, has been assessed by the agency as continuing to be eligible for social housing,
and waiting to be allocated other social housing; and
(b) is, in the chief executive’s opinion, having regard to sustainability, likely to be able to retain alternative
housing; and

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