Abstract
In Nice Place Property Management Ltd v Paterson,1 a New Zealand court recently ordered a tenant to pay the landlord the roughly $7,500 NZ profit that the tenant had made while sub-letting the premises via Airbnb in breach of their lease. The orthodox position is that an account of profit for breach of contract is available only in exceptional cases. We argue that Nice Place is not such an exceptional case. However, we suggest that a court could make an award of “negotiating damages”, which are compensatory in nature, to reflect the landlord’s loss of right to control their land. This approach could result in a sum less than, or possibly more than, the tenant’s actual profit.