Need to know
- In July the NSW government announced it would be introducing legislation to abolish no-grounds evictions along with other tenancy reforms
- Under the proposed new rules, landlords and their agents will have to have a valid reason for asking tenants to leave, such as a major renovation or selling the property
- Other slated reforms designed to improve rights for the state's two million renters include new restrictions on the collection and use of renters' personal information
In July this year the NSW government raised hopes for renters that the fear of being kicked out of their homes might not always be hanging over their heads.
The state announced it would be introducing legislation to abolish 'no grounds evictions', that everyday scenario where the renter is asked to pack up and get out without having broken the terms of the lease or otherwise been a bad tenant.
Renters make up around one-third of households across NSW, and for many of those roughly two million people a firmer grip on long-term tenancy would amount to a life-changing event.
In a series of forums sponsored by the Tenants' Union of NSW and the Sydney Alliance held across the state this year, renters made it clear that the uncertainty of how long they'd be able to stay in their homes was a huge part of what made renting so stressful.
Other countries have moved forward on making the rental market a more compassionate environment – or are trying to. Scotland banned no-grounds evictions in 2016. New Zealand banned them in 2021, though a bill has been introduced by the National Party coalition to reinstate them. The UK government introduced a bill to ban no-grounds evictions in 2023, though it has yet to become law. Bans on no-grounds evictions have also been enacted in several Australian jurisdictions (see below).
Renters who do the right thing – pay their rent, look after the house – should not have to be in a constant limbo with the possibility of an eviction for no reason just around the corner
NSW Minister for Housing and Homelessness Rose Jackson
When the NSW reforms were announced, Minister for Housing and Homelessness Rose Jackson voiced the feelings of many renters, saying those "who do the right thing – pay their rent, look after the house – should not have to be in a constant limbo with the possibility of an eviction for no reason just around the corner".
Rental commissioner Trina Jones said the commitment to ending no grounds evictions "is a major step in a broader effort to create a fair, quality, and affordable rental market".
But with over 90% of the rental properties in NSW owned by individual investors – many of whom are looking to squeeze the most out of their investment – that effort seems likely to remain a work in progress.
Under the proposed new regime, tenants can still be evicted whenever landlords give the word. The difference is that they'll have enhanced legal leverage to challenge an eviction at the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal – should they choose to fight.
Notification timeframes to be increased
The power landlords and their agents currently have to evict tenants in NSW goes virtually unchecked, and a continuous cycle of having to find a new place to live is a common experience for renters. It's also one of life's most difficult and disorienting ones, especially when school-age children are caught up in the wholesale disruption.
And eviction can happen with alarming speed. Under the current rules, landlords in NSW have to give tenants on a fixed-term lease just 30 days' notice that it won't be renewed. For periodic leases, where tenants are paying month by month, it's 90 days.
Along with putting an end to no-grounds evictions, the proposed legislation calls for adjusting these time frames to 60 days' notice for leases shorter than six months, and 90 days for longer leases. The notification period for periodic leases would stay the same.
In today's rental market, especially in Sydney, these are still very tight windows to engage in the mad scramble of finding a new place to live.
Tenants' Union NSW wants to see the notice period for allowable no-fault evictions extended to 120 days in all cases, and the organisation is calling for tenants to be able to move out at any time during this period without having to pay a penalty.
The proposed ban on no-grounds evictions in NSW comes in the wake of similar measures in Victoria, South Australia and the ACT. (Source: NSW government.)
When can landlords evict tenants under the new rules?
If the proposed NSW bill is passed by the state Parliament, here are some of the legal grounds landlords and agents will have to evict tenants on both periodic and fixed-terms leases.
- The property requires major repairs or renovations that mean people can't live there. Under this scenario, it can't be put up for rent again for at least four weeks.
- There will be a change in use of the property, such as from residential to commercial.
- The owner or their family wants to move back in.
- The owner wants the property to be sold as a vacant property.
Tenants can also be evicted for a number of reasons that predate the proposed new rules, such as failing to pay rent or otherwise violating the terms of the lease.
Other changes that are expected to be included in the NSW reforms are in line with measures CHOICE has been pushing for in recent years, including new privacy protections on renter data harvested from online rental platforms and an end to being hit with fees for background checks before your rental agreement even begins.
Tenants' Union NSW has some concerns
The NSW reforms are expected to take effect in early 2025 and their final design has yet to be revealed, but Tenants' Union NSW CEO Leo Patterson Ross tells CHOICE that the organisation has some initial concerns.
One is that landlords might say they need tenants to leave so repairs can be done that should have been done when they lived there and that don't require that the property be vacated.
"We have proposed that an eviction notice on these grounds only proceeds if it follows an unsuccessful negotiation with the tenant for the tenancy to continue after the repairs or renovations have been completed," Ross says.
We have seen situations, such as following the 2022 Lismore floods, where the property only needed relatively mild cleaning or repairs but the tenants were evicted regardless
Tenants' Union NSW CEO Leo Patterson Ross
Landlords have been known to flout the current NSW rules on this point, which allow them to evict renters if the place has supposedly become uninhabitable.
"We have seen situations, such as following the 2022 Lismore floods, where the property only needed relatively mild cleaning or repairs but the tenants were evicted regardless and the property put back up for rent at a significant premium."
As with many existing renters' rights, one problem with enforcing the new rules will be independent verification. Trusting landlords to do the right thing without oversight puts tenants in a position of trying to enforce the law themselves. Tenants' Union NSW would like to see that any eviction notice "is provided with clear and reliable evidence up front". Short of such evidence, penalties from NSW Fair Trading along with compensation for tenants should be in order.
Under the current rules, landlords in NSW have to give tenants on a fixed term lease just 30 days’ notice that it won’t be renewed.
Maximising the sale price
Another worry about the current proposed reforms is that they include a legitimate ground for evictions that accepts the idea that landlord's need renters to leave so they can sell the place.
"There are no situations where the owner truly needs to have the property vacant prior to the sale occurring. The reason they prefer it to be vacant is to maximise the sale price," Ross says.
Given that, the Tenants' Union wants to see landlords help pay for the cost of tenants to move if it comes to that, "in the same way that owners pay agents and decorators to maximise the sale price".
These reforms are not a silver bullet, and we don't believe there are any single solutions that address all problems
Tenants' Union NSW CEO Leo Patterson Ross
In cases where a landlord evicts a tenant on legitimate grounds but then changes their mind and wants to put the rental back on the market, the new rules are expected to impose a waiting period before landlords can list the property and to require permission from NSW Fair Trading if they want to cut the waiting period short. But it's not yet clear exactly how this will work, Ross says.
"While a small group of campaigners will oppose nearly all changes, we know most landlords are comfortable with reasonable changes," Ross says, though he acknowledges that his organisation's proposed 120-day notice period is probably a long shot and that the government's recommended time frames are more likely to go through.
Will the new no-grounds eviction rules be a gamechanger for renters in NSW? Ross believes they will take some of the pressures off, but certainly not all of them.
"These reforms are not a silver bullet, and we don't believe there are any single solutions that address all problems. But this is a really important foundation for a fair renting system," he says.
What's the status of no-grounds evictions around Australia?
The move to ban no-grounds evictions has been gaining ground in recent years.
Victoria outlawed them in 2021 and, like the proposed NSW reforms, legitimate grounds in the state now include a change of use of the property, putting it up for sale, or a landlord moving back in. The Australian Capital Territory followed suit in 2023.
In South Australia, no-grounds evictions were prohibited in July this year. Historically, around 40% of tenancies have been ended by landlords in SA – usually at the end of a fixed term lease – and half of periodic leases have been terminated with no reason given.
The legitimate grounds for eviction in SA and the ACT are generally the same as those in Victoria and the upcoming NSW reforms.
Retaliatory evictions not as easy in Victoria
Tenants Victoria lead lawyer for community education, Ben Cording, tells CHOICE that the 2021 tenancy law change in the state was clearly a win for renters, though longer-term tenancies remain elusive due to the market forces of low housing stock and ever-increasing rents.
Among other things, renters now have protections against the widespread practice of retaliatory eviction.
"Before these reforms, renters were vulnerable to eviction once their fixed-term leases ended, often fearing that asserting their rights or requesting repairs could result in an eviction through the no-grounds notice," Cording says. "This system exacerbated the power imbalance between landlords and renters, with landlords able to end tenancies without justification."
Now landlords in Victoria must provide supporting evidence if they evict a tenant on the grounds that they're renovating, selling or moving back into the property – the same requirement Tenants' Union NSW says needs to be a big part of that state's reform package.
Before these reforms, renters were vulnerable to eviction once their fixed-term leases ended, often fearing that asserting their rights or requesting repairs could result in an eviction
Tenants Victoria lead lawyer Ben Cording
And if the case ends up in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, that adjudicating body must now apply a 'reasonable and proportionate' test to determine on a human level whether an eviction would hurt the tenant more than prohibiting it would hurt the landlord.
Despite how hard it is to find a place to live that you can continue to afford, "Victoria's private housing stock is now better-regulated to protect consumers who depend on this essential service in such a fierce market. Renters are better able to assert their rights without the anxiety of being evicted for no clear grounds," Cording says.
He also points out that the ban on no-grounds evictions "does not prevent a landlord from recovering their investment. No one is stopping the rental provider from eventually getting their property back or dealing with challenging issues appropriately".
Landlords may just have to wait longer for tenants to leave, and perhaps in the process come to better appreciate that this is a person's home that's at play, not just an investment.
Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.
