Pro-tenant, pro-pet laws pass NSW parliament

Tenants advocates have welcomed major reforms to residential rental laws in NSW but have warned that more needs to be done to make the whole letting system fairer and more transparent.

This week the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill 2024 was passed in State Parliament and tenants’ advocates say it delivers long-overdue reforms to the state’s rental system.

“While the reforms aren’t perfect… they mark a significant step toward a fairer and more balanced rental landscape,” a media release from the NSW Tenants Union claimed. 

With more than 50 per cent of strata residents being tenants, these measures could have a profound effect of apartment living. They include the following new protections for tenants:

• Landlords must provide a valid reason for ending leases,
• Property owners have only a limited number of grounds on which they can refuse pets in their properties  
• Rents can only be increased once a year, regardless of the type of lease
• Free-of-charge and accessible options must be provided for payments of rent.
• Background check fees are banned, removing a common barrier for renters applying for homes.

The Tenants Union media release broke down the reforms and explained how they should work and how they could prove problematic.

  1. Ending ‘No Grounds’ Evictions

The most significant win is the end of unfair ‘no grounds’ evictions, which have long undermined renters’ stability and ability to assert their rights. Under the new rules:

• Landlords must provide valid reasons for ending a tenancy.
• Significant penalties may apply to landlords or agents who misuse these new termination grounds.
• Evidence will be required when serving most new grounds, and a reletting exclusion period may apply.  

The new grounds for termination include breach of tenancy agreements, proposed sale of the property, significant renovations or demolition, landlord or their family moving in, and situations where the property will no longer be used as a rental. 

However tenants’ reps are still concerned that two new grounds—proposed sale of property and significant renovations or repairs—may still be misused:

• Proposed sale of property: There is a risk that landlords may claim they intend to sell, only to later abandon the sale without significant consequence.
• Significant renovations or repairs: Allowing eviction for repairs risks landlords neglecting their maintenance obligations only to later use renovations as an excuse to evict tenants. We’ll be keeping a close eye on these provisions to ensure landlords can’t use them to evict tenants unfairly or exploit loopholes.

However, the tenants Uniosn says this reform is a real breakthrough for renters—ending the anxiety of being forced to move, often with very little notice and no reason required.

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2. Pet-Friendly Renting

Under the reforms renters will have the right to request permission to keep pets, and landlords can refuse within a list of reasons set by legislation.

If consent or a reason for refusal isn’t provided within 21 days, it will be automatically granted. If the tenant does not agree with the refusal reason, they will need to apply to the Tribunal.

However, the Tenants Union remains concerned that the Bill leaves too much room for landlords to make arbitrary decisions about pets. Renters should not have to fight unreasonable refusals in the Tribunal. This is in contrast to the pets provisions in every other state and territory except Queensland.

Tenants NSW says it will still campaign to make sure that renters can easily move with their existing pets. This stage is not addressed in the bill and will make a big difference both to the moving process and the number of animals abandoned due to anti-pet policies.

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3. Limits on Rent Increases & Payment Protections

The new changes also tackles key issues around affordability and rental payments:

• Rent can now only be increased once every 12 months, regardless of the lease type.
• Free and accessible payment options must be provided for rent.
• Background check fees are banned, removing a common barrier for renters applying for homes.

These changes will reduce the financial pressure on renters and bring much-needed predictability to rent payments. Tenants NSW says more is needed to be done to address steeply increasing rents across NSW.

However, the reforms have been welcomes and celebrated as the result of years of campaigning.

“Millions of renters have felt the impact of no grounds evictions in their lives – whether it was hesitating to ask for repairs or negotiate a rent increase, or having to find a new home without justification,” says Leo Patterson Ross, CEO, Tenants’ Union of NSW. 

“This is the single most significant change we can make to residential tenancies law, as without protection from unfair eviction in place we can’t rely on other parts of the law to function properly.”

Sidonie Shaw, Manager, Central Coast Tenants’ Advice and Advocacy Service said these reforms have been long overdue. 

“The end of No Grounds Termination will bring some security to renters on the Central Coast,” she said. “The reforms will allow renters to make a house a home. 

“There is still more work to do and we will continue to push for further reforms however for the moment it is a time to celebrate.”

Ned Cooke, Team Leader, Inner Sydney Tenants’ Advice and Advocacy Service said the reforms were a significant win that gives renters much better security in their homes.  

“While the new legislation is not perfect, it will allow tenants to assert their rights regarding repairs and rent increases with less fear of eviction without cause,” he added.

“We will continue to advocate for further improvements to the law and advocate against any misuse of the new termination grounds by landlords.”

The reforms are likely to take effect in early 2025.with the government to develop and introduce new regulations, which crucially will set out evidence requirements for the newly introduced termination grounds.  

While the Bill includes a requirement for the Secretary to collect data on the grounds used by landlords to give termination notices, including the evidence given by landlords, Tenants NSW also suggests Fair Trading provide:

• A public eviction data register with non-identifiable data to promote transparency.
• An Eviction Hotline for renters to report poor practices by landlords and agents.

More up to date information about the law changes can be found on tenants.org.au.