Christchurch tenants have been waiting more than a month for rental bonds to be refunded, raising concerns about delays within Tenancy Services as renters and property managers report ongoing difficulties getting assistance.

Bonds should be refunded without 5 days.

Renter Chelsea Skinner contacted Chris Lynch Media saying she and others were experiencing significant delays, despite being told bond refunds should be processed within 10 working days.

“We are currently sitting on a month since we requested our bond refund,” Skinner said.

“I eventually got through on their number, which is very difficult most of the time, and was told they were not even processing it today and it could still be another 10 working days,” she said.

Skinner said the delays were causing unnecessary financial pressure.

“As you know, bonds are not a small amount of money. They are thousands of dollars,” she said.

She said frustration was growing publicly, pointing to strong backlash on Tenancy Services social media pages from others reporting similar delays.

Chris Lynch Media has also been contacted by several Christchurch property managers who said it was proving extremely hard to get in touch with anyone at Tenancy Services, describing long wait times and limited communication while trying to resolve bond related matters.

In response, Head of Tenancy Services Kat Watson said Tenancy Bond Services aimed to refund bonds within 5 working days once a fully completed refund form was received.

“Tenancy Bond Services in the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment aims to refund bonds within five working days, once a fully completed refund form is received,” Watson said.

She said demand pressures had extended processing times.

“Due to peak demand and holiday periods, customers may experience longer wait times, and as stated on our website we are currently processing at up to 10 working days,” she said.

Watson said the agency understood the importance of bond refunds.

“We apologise to our customers for any inconvenience. We are working hard to improve timeliness and access to customer support because we understand how important it is for people to receive their bond money,” she said.

She said additional staff had been brought in to address the backlog.

“We have increased the number of team members processing bond refunds, and performance is improving as a result. We will continue to identify further efficiencies and improve timeliness,” Watson said.

Watson said Tenancy Bond Services would contact customers if more information was required.

“Tenancy Bond Services will call or email customers who have lodged a refund, using the information held on the bond file, if we need further information to finalise the refund,” she said.

“If customers are waiting for a refund, they are encouraged to check emails, including the spam folder, to make sure they have not missed any emails from us requesting more information,” Watson said.

She said system upgrades were also underway.

“We are committed to modernising the overall bond service, giving landlords and tenants digital access to provide required information to process bond activities,” Watson said.

“In December 2025, automated self service bond refunds became available for landlords and property management offices using property management software through MBIE’s Business to Business connection,” she said.

“This enables much faster bond refunds and visibility of progress of the application, as well as remove queues waiting for manual processing. If tenants respond the same day, then the refund will be processed same day,” Watson said.

Watson said Tenancy Services appreciated customers’ patience while work continued to reduce wait times and improve the service experience.