Consultation on NSW rental laws
If you live in, own or manage a rental property, or are interested in renting rules in NSW, the NSW Government wants to hear from you!
With the aim of improving rental laws to support both renters, landlords and the community the Minns Government is calling for feedback on its rental laws discussion paper.
Key areas are:
Ending no grounds evictions by requiring a reason to end a lease
In its discussion paper, the government asks what reasons should be considered valid and what evidence landlords will need to provide in the event they wish to end a tenancy.
The Act already allows landlords to terminate for a range of reasons, but it does not yet cover every valid reason for ending a tenancy.
These reasons would apply both when a landlord ends a fixed term lease at the end of the agreed time, and for rolling leases. There are five new reasons currently being considered
The property:
- is being prepared for sale
- will go through reconstruction, repair or renovation that requires it to be vacant
- will change its use (e.g. change from a home to a shop or office)
- will be demolished
The landlord:
- will move into the property, or a member of their immediate family will move in
Making it easier for renters to have pets
Currently a pet can only be kept in a property if the landlord agrees, unless it is an assistance animal (like a guide dog). Landlords can refuse tenancy applicants who have pets, and they may also refuse existing renters’ requests to get a pet during a tenancy, without providing a reason.
In 2022, the Department of Customer Service asked the public if they support changes to tenancy law to make it easier for renters to keep pets. The consultation showed strong support for change with 82% of survey respondents and 73% of written submissions in favour.
The NSW Government supports the right of renters to keep a pet on a rental property but also recognises the need for landlords to be able to manage genuine risks to their rental property.
In line with other states in Australia, the paper proposes a new model to allow renters to more easily be able to keep pets. While the details haven’t been confirmed, and the government would like to know what grounds landlords should be allowed to refuse a tenant’s permission to keep a pet.
Protecting renters’ personal information and privacy
Rental applicants (people applying for a rental property) are typically asked to provide a lot of personal information to agents, landlords, or property technology companies (proptech). Proptechs provide apps that agents use to manage rental applications.
Applicants provide personal information such as their driver’s license, Medicare card, passports, work details, and financial information.
Some may argue applicants may be asked to provide far more personal information than is needed, and this risks exposing their personal information to cyber-attacks or data breaches. It can also lead to unfair or discriminatory outcomes.
People are asked to give feedback on some of the suggested ways in which renters’ personal information is protected and the risk that their information will be misused is reduced.
The paper also reviews automated decision making, highlighting it could be unfair for rental applicants, and looks for potential options to support fairness
Making it easier to transfer rental bonds from one property to another
Usually, the renter pays a new property’s bond before they can get the old property’s bond back, and so adds to renters’ moving expenses, because they have paid two rental bonds at the same time – one for the old property and one for the new property.
Aiming to help reduce financial strain and cost of living pressure on renters when moving between rental properties the Government would like feedback on how to best set up a new scheme that will allow a renter to transfer their bond from the old property to the new property, before the bond from the old property has been repaid.
Information to help renters know when a rent increase is excessive
Currently, there is a lack of information about average rents paid and rent increases available from an easy to access central source. Suggestions for improvement include the NSW Government collecting rent increase information and make it publicly available by, for example requiring landlords or their agents to report rent increases to the NSW Government using an online system (e.g. Rental Bonds Online), or sending out a voluntary survey to renters, landlords or their agents asking if and by how much rent for a particular property has increased throughout the tenancy.
Other ways to improve conditions for renters
The paper also looks for feedback on other ways to improve conditions for renters and take the pressure off, such as free ways to pay the rent and telling renters about embedded networks.
The move paves the way for legislation to be introduced by the end of the year.
People in NSW can have their say on the rental reforms until August 11 2023.
For more information, and to download the consultation and to give feedback click here.
If you would like to talk about this consultation further, or would like to know how our property management services can make your life easier, we’re always here for an informal chat to answer questions.
Give us a ring on 02 4956 9777, send us an email to mail@newcastlepropertymanagement.com.au or pop into our Cardiff office.
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