Settlement Apportionment Calculator NZ

Updated  Apportionment convention follows the sale and purchase agreement. The New Zealand rating year runs 1 July to 30 June.
Quick answer Settling on Tuesday 15 September 2026 with annual rates of $3,600.00, of which the vendor has paid $1,800.00, the vendor's share of the rating year is $749.59 for 76 days of ownership. Across all outgoings the net adjustment is $904.66 payable by the purchaser to the vendor on settlement.

Nothing about a property settlement surprises first home buyers more than the outgoings adjustment, because it appears late, it is never a round number, and it can go either way. The idea behind it is simple enough. Councils and body corporates bill for a whole period, the house changes hands part way through, and somebody has to work out who owes what for which days. The part that catches people is the second step: the split by days is then netted against what has actually been paid, so a vendor who paid two instalments in advance is reimbursed on settlement day and a vendor who paid nothing hands over a credit instead. Which of those you are looking at has nothing to do with fairness and everything to do with the vendor's payment habits, which is why the figure cannot be guessed in advance.

Calculate.co.nz is proud to be partnered with Harcourts, New Zealand's oldest real estate group, founded in Wellington in 1888, and named the country's Most Trusted Real Estate Brand by Reader's Digest for thirteen consecutive years, the only agency recognised since that award began. We partner with them because selling a home is the largest financial decision most New Zealanders make, and one where the quality of advice materially changes the result. Harcourts salespeople are licensed under the Real Estate Agents Act 2008 and accountable to the Real Estate Authority. That combination of longevity, scale and regulated accountability is what we look for in a partner. Informed choices lead to better outcomes for Kiwi households, and choosing who sells your home is among the most consequential of them.
Harcourts: thinking of selling? Talk to your local Harcourts team.
Advertise on this page
Settlement
Outgoings
OutgoingAmount for the periodPeriod startsPeriod endsPaid by vendor so far
Council rates
Water
Body corporate levy
Leave at zero for a freehold house
Net adjustment on settlement
$904.66
payable by the purchaser to the vendor
Vendor's days
76
of a 365 day rating year
Purchaser's days
289
from settlement to 30 June 2027

Each outgoing, split by days

OutgoingFull periodVendor's sharePurchaser's shareAlready paidAdjustment
Council rates$3,600.00$749.59$2,850.41$1,800.00$1,050.41
Water$700.00$145.75$554.25$0.00-$145.75
Body corporate levy$0.00$0.00$0.00$0.00$0.00
Net adjustment$904.66

A positive adjustment is payable by the purchaser to the vendor, because the vendor has paid for days the purchaser will own. A negative one is a credit to the purchaser, because a bill is coming that covers days the vendor owned.

The rates adjustment in full

Rating period1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027
Days in the period365 days
Vendor's days, to settlement76 days
Purchaser's days, from settlement289 days
Rates for the period$3,600.00
Vendor's share$749.59
Purchaser's share$2,850.41
Vendor has already paid$1,800.00
Rates adjustment$1,050.41 to the vendor
This is an indicative apportionment, not a settlement statement. Your lawyer or conveyancer prepares the actual statement and their figure governs. Apportionment follows the sale and purchase agreement, and the convention about who bears settlement day is a convention rather than a rule, so check which way your agreement points. Special body corporate levies are not ordinary levies and are not apportioned in the same way, so raise any levy that has been struck but not yet paid with your lawyer specifically. This page does not deal with penalties on unpaid rates, metered water read to a date rather than charged annually, or any rates rebate the vendor may have received, all of which can change the figure.

Why the adjustment can go either way

The split by days is only half of the calculation, and it is the half people expect. The other half is what has actually been paid, and that is where the direction comes from. A vendor who has paid two rates instalments in September has paid for months the purchaser will own, so the purchaser reimburses them and the adjustment is payable on settlement. A vendor who has paid nothing has left a bill that will arrive in the purchaser's name covering months the vendor owned, so the vendor credits the purchaser and the adjustment reduces what changes hands. The same property, the same date and the same rates bill can therefore produce an adjustment in either direction, which is why it cannot be estimated without knowing the vendor's payment position.

The rating year is the reason the numbers look odd

Council rates run 1 July to 30 June and are usually billed in four instalments, which means the amount paid at any point in the year bears no simple relation to the time elapsed. Settling in mid September, roughly a fifth of the way through the year, a vendor may well have paid half. That mismatch is the whole source of the adjustment, and it is also why the figure is rarely round. It is a daily rate multiplied by an awkward number of days, netted against instalments that follow their own schedule.

Special levies are a separate conversation

Ordinary body corporate levies apportion by days like anything else. A special levy does not necessarily follow, because it is struck for a particular purpose at a particular time, and whether it falls on the vendor or the purchaser turns on when it was resolved and what the agreement says. It is one of the few items in a settlement that can run to tens of thousands of dollars, and it is worth asking the question before the agreement goes unconditional rather than after.

Worked example

Settlement is Tuesday 15 September 2026. Rates for the year 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027 are $3,600.00 across 365 days. The vendor owns the property for 76 days of that year and the purchaser for 289 days.

The vendor's share is $749.59 and the purchaser's is $2,850.41. Because the vendor has already paid $1,800.00, which is more than their share, the purchaser reimburses the difference of $1,050.41.

Water of $700.00 for the same period has not been paid at all, so the vendor's share of $145.75 becomes a credit to the purchaser. Netting the two leaves $904.66 payable by the purchaser to the vendor on settlement.

How this is calculated

For each outgoing the period length is counted in days from the first day to the last day inclusive. The vendor's days run from the start of the period to the settlement date, and the purchaser's days are the remainder, with the setting for who bears settlement day moving the boundary by one. Each party's share is the amount for the period multiplied by their days divided by the total days. The adjustment for that outgoing is what the vendor has paid less the vendor's own share, so a vendor who has paid more than their share is owed the difference and one who has paid less owes it. The net adjustment is the sum of those three figures, and a positive result is payable by the purchaser.

Official sources

Related NZ calculators

Related calculators

Frequently asked questions

What does apportionment mean on a property settlement?

Outgoings like rates and levies are billed for a whole period, but the property changes hands part way through it. Apportionment splits the bill by days so the vendor pays for the days they owned it and the purchaser pays for the days they will. The split is then netted against what has actually been paid, and the difference is settled as one adjustment on the settlement statement.

Who pays the rates on the day of settlement?

The usual New Zealand convention is that the purchaser is responsible from the settlement date onwards, so the vendor bears the day before settlement and the purchaser bears settlement day itself. It is a convention rather than a rule, and the sale and purchase agreement governs. On a typical annual rates bill the difference is a few dollars, so it is rarely worth arguing about, but it is worth knowing which way your agreement points.

What is the New Zealand rating year?

Councils set rates for a year running 1 July to 30 June, and most bill it in four instalments across that year. That matters at settlement because a vendor settling in September has usually paid one or two instalments already, covering a period that runs past the settlement date, so the purchaser reimburses them for the part that belongs to the purchaser.

Are body corporate levies apportioned the same way?

Ordinary levies are apportioned by days in the same way. Special levies are different and are worth asking about specifically, because whether a special levy already struck but not yet due falls on the vendor or the purchaser depends on the agreement and on when the levy was resolved. That question is worth raising with your lawyer before settlement rather than discovering it after.

Does the purchaser always end up paying the adjustment?

No, it depends entirely on whether the vendor has paid ahead. Where the vendor has paid instalments covering a period that extends past settlement, the purchaser reimburses them and the adjustment is payable by the purchaser. Where nothing has been paid and the purchaser will receive the whole bill, the vendor credits the purchaser instead, and the adjustment reduces what the purchaser pays on the day.