Accommodation Supplement Calculator NZ 2026

The Accommodation Supplement is a weekly, non-taxable payment from Work and Income (MSD) that helps with the cost of renting, boarding or owning your home. How much you get depends on your area, your family situation, your accommodation costs, your income, and your cash assets.

MSD works out 70% of your eligible accommodation costs above an entry threshold, then caps that at the maximum rate for your area and situation. The entry threshold is a fixed published dollar figure (these are the non-beneficiary figures; MSD publishes separate entry thresholds for people on main benefits and NZ Super) — $93 a week for a single renter/boarder rising to $205 for a couple with children — and a slightly higher figure applies if you own your home and pay a mortgage. Non-beneficiaries then have the supplement reduced by 25 cents for every dollar of gross income above a published income threshold; main benefit recipients get the full capped amount with no income reduction. NZ Super and Veterans Pension recipients have no income reduction either, but get nothing once their household's total income is more than the Schedule 5 income limit ($740.81 a week for a single person without children, $1,076.04 for a couple).

New Zealand is split into four areas, with higher-cost areas attracting higher maximum rates. Auckland, Pukekohe, Waiuku, Tauranga, Queenstown, Wanaka are in Area 1; Wellington, Christchurch, Hamilton, Nelson, Napier, Hastings, New Plymouth, Whangarei and similar centres are in Area 2; Dunedin, Palmerston North, Rotorua, Gisborne, Timaru, Whakatane and similar centres are in Area 3; and Area 4 is everywhere else in New Zealand. MSD publishes the full list of locations in each area, so check your address with Work and Income if you are near a boundary.

Maximums depend on your situation and area. A single person can get from $70 a week in Area 4 up to $165 in Area 1. A sole parent with 2 or more children, or a couple with children, can get up to $305 a week in Area 1, while a couple with no children or a sole parent with 1 child can get up to $235.

Yes. If your cash assets are over the limit, no supplement is payable at all. The cash asset limit is $8,100 for a single person and $16,200 for a couple or a family.

If you board, only 62% of your board payments count as accommodation costs. The same rent-or-board entry threshold and 70% subsidy rate apply, and the result is capped at your area's maximum rate for your situation.

For non-beneficiaries, yes — the supplement reduces by 25 cents for every dollar of gross (before-tax) weekly income above the published threshold for your situation. If you receive a main benefit from Work and Income, your Accommodation Supplement has no income reduction. If you receive NZ Super or Veterans Pension, there is no income reduction either, but no supplement is paid once the total income of you and your partner is more than the Schedule 5 income limit: $740.81 a week for a single person without children or $1,076.04 for a couple.

Renters and boarders share the same entry threshold, with boarders' costs first reduced to 62%. Homeowners paying a mortgage use a higher entry threshold, reflecting that mortgage costs typically build equity as well as covering housing.