Under pressure from housing campaigners, the tenants union and the NSW Greens, NSW Labor has finally said it will ban “no fault” evictions.
Despite the years’ long housing crisis, it is one of the last states to enact such protections for renters.
Premier Chris Minns announced at the NSW Labor Conference on July 28 that a bill banning landlords from ending rolling leases at any time, without reason, will come to parliament in August.
Landlords will have to meet one of several “commonsense and reasonable” thresholds for eviction, which include the sale of the property or if the tenant causes damage.
Owners will be obliged to provide evidence when issuing an eviction notice, with penalties for “non-genuine” reasons.
But it will only take effect from next year.
Labor was under pressure from campaigners and the Tenants Union of NSW. Newtown Greens MP Jenny Leong’s bill to amend the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 to prohibit no grounds evictions, tabled in May, was another pressure point. (That bill was bumped off to a committee, which is due to report in September.)
If passed, the bill will bring NSW into line with other states and territories, including the ACT, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia.
Leo Patterson, CEO of the Tenants Union of NSW, said: “Ending no grounds evictions is a critical step in ensuring that renters can feel secure in their homes without the constant fear of eviction.”
Patterson said it was “really important” that people who are renting have the stability they need to “raise families, to stay connected to communities, to stay at nearby schools”.
The Tenants Union of NSW said in its submission to the government that the ban on no grounds evictions should apply to periodic and fixed term tenancies.
“If NSW continues to allow landlords to evict without having to provide a valid reason at the end of a fixed term tenancy we will see a significant number of landlords and their agents shift renters onto short fixed term leases, as is the current practice in Tasmania and Queensland.
“This will mean reforms to end ‘no grounds’ eviction are undermined, and fail to deliver the greater protection and stability promised.”
It also said that a property being “prepared for sale” should not be a new reason for eviction. If the new owner is buying the property as an investment, the sitting tenant should be able to remain. This is unlikely to be accepted by Labor.
Labor’s reform will mean that landlords can no longer kick out a tenant during a lease or at the end of a fixed-term lease at any time, without giving a reason. The current situation means landlords can evict tenants, even if they have paid their rent on time, taken care of the property and the landlord intends to continue to rent it out.
One renter is issued with a no-grounds eviction every 18 minutes in NSW, according to the government’s 2022 End of Tenancy Survey, the ABC reported on July 30.
Leong said the reforms were long overdue and the government delay had cost “up to 40,000 renters” their home. She said millions of renters in NSW long wanted this change.
“People are not making complaints about mould, about lack of maintenance in their property, because they are so fearful that they’re going to get a no-ground eviction.”
She said the proposed reforms would not only include security for renters, they will improve the habitability and quality of rented properties.
Rachel Evans, Socialist Alliance mayoral candidate for the City of Sydney Council, told Green Left the no grounds eviction and portable bond reforms are welcome, but some glaring loopholes need to be closed.
“Labor has taken two years to make this announcement and, while rents continue to skyrocket, it still says the reform will only come online from next year. This is not good enough.”
Evans said the law needed to be amended now to ensure renters are not unfairly evicted over the next five months.
“Labor has not planned to give renters the right to keep pets, or put hooks on their walls, whereas this is allowed in other states.”
Evans also echoed others concerns that no official body will be checking whether landlords breach the new law. It will be up to the tenant to make a complaint to NSW Fair Trading.
“We all know the power imbalance that exists between a tenant and a landlord.”
Evans said given the extent of the housing affordability crisis in the state meant that Labor should legislate to freeze all rents for two years and introduce a vacancy tax to force landlords to put vacant homes and permanent short-term rentals into the rental system.