Have your say in the Improving NSW Rental Laws consultation

Improving NSW rental laws consultation now open

The NSW Government has now opened a consultation on Improving NSW renting laws. Now’s your chance to have your say on the changes needed to make renting fair!

The consultation is open until 11 August. It covers important areas for rental reform, including ending 'no grounds' evictions, pets and renting, renters' data privacy and rental affordability.

This consultation is a valuable opportunity for the 1 in 3 people in NSW who rent their homes — and anyone else interested in making renting fairer — to have a say in what our renting system should look like. 

You can have your say through completing the consultation survey or emailing your written submission to residentialtenancy@customerservice.nsw.gov.au.

Survey

The consultation survey is broken up into 6 sections: 

  • Reasons for a landlord to end a lease (evictions)
  • Pets and renting
  • Renters’ personal information
  • Portable bond scheme
  • Excessive rent increases & rental affordability
  • Other issues: embedded networks, free ways to pay rent, and strata schemes

You can choose which sections you want to answer, and skip over others.

Check out the Tenants' Union survey guide here.

Complete the survey here. 

 

Submission

You can contribute a written submission about your own renting experiences and views. You don't need to write a formal submission answering all of the questions in the consultation paper. Sharing your story as a renter in NSW is valuable.

Have you experienced an unfair 'no grounds' eviction? Lost out on a rental because you have a pet? Been hit with an unaffordable rent increase? Had to hand over loads of your private data in an automated rental application?

Share your stories as a submission so that your voice is heard and your experience can help shape change.

We have developed a submission template which outlines the campaign’s positions on some of the issues raised in the consultation, and gives prompts for elements of your renting experiences to share. You can use the template to make a submission about your own experiences, and then email it to residentialtenancy@customerservice.nsw.gov.au. You can choose to submit anonymously if you prefer.

Check out our submission template here.

 

Recent Stories

  • Small apartment block with a Lease sign out the front
    Bri's story
    Three years into her tenancy, Brianna's rental experience started to sour. First, a newly appointed real estate agent placed the household on a fixed-term lease and increased their rent by 19%. Then, in the spring of 2023, an eviction notice came, with no explanation or reason for the eviction provided.


  • Facade of a home in Sydney. Photo by Joseph Bobadilla
    Dave's story
    Since the divorce, Dave and his kids have been forced to move many times—never by choice. Two of his most recent leases ended with a no-grounds termination.


  • Emma and Faizan in their home
    Faizan & Emma's story
    Faizan and Emma received a notice of an increase in rent from $850 to $920 a week. Their response was to accept the increase under the condition that the repairs they had been asking for be finally done. When no work was carried out, Faizan filed a complaint with the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal. A week later, the couple received a no grounds eviction notice.


  • Buildings in Ashfield
    Nicole’s story
    Nicole is an artist and a long-time resident of Sydney’s Inner West. Prior to getting a 'no grounds' eviction, Nicole and others in her building were asked to accept a $200 rent increase.


  • A dark wooden sign against a blank wall with the word home on it. Wooden birds sit on top.
    Cin's Story
    "All landlords have their standards and these are very competitive. When I saw houses, I didn’t have time to think. I had to immediately submit applications to see who would accept me."


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