From May, landlords will be required to provide a valid reason to terminate any lease type, with longer notice periods introduced in certain situations to give tenants more certainty and time to secure alternative housing.
Renters who secure a new property after receiving an eviction notice will also gain new rights to end their lease early without penalty.
Tenants will also have more flexibility around keeping pets. A standard application form and approval process will be introduced, with landlords only able to refuse pets for specific reasons, such as non-compliance with council laws or if they live on the premises themselves. If no response is received from the landlord within 21 days, approval will be granted automatically.
Other key changes include a requirement for landlords to offer at least one free, electronic method for rent payment, such as direct deposit, preventing renters from being charged additional fees.
These reforms follow earlier updates in October 2024, which limited rent increases to once per year and banned background check fees.
Premier Chris Minns said the reforms will modernise the rental market and bring greater fairness to the system.
“By banning no-grounds evictions, this will give renters much-needed housing security. This will let them make a house a home,” he said.
“With more than two million renters in NSW and over 600,000 investors, we have taken the time to get these major changes right.”
Minister for Better Regulation and Fair Trading Anoulack Chanthivong said the changes reflect practical improvements shaped by a broad consultation process.
“Whether it’s ending no-grounds evictions, making it easier to keep pets, or ensuring renters have fee-free ways to pay rent, these reforms deliver practical improvements that will benefit millions of people across NSW,” he said.
Minister for Housing and Homelessness Rose Jackson added that the updates are a critical step in addressing the state’s housing crisis.
“We’ve inherited a rental system that was never designed for long-term tenants — this reform starts to lay new foundations for a fairer system,” she said. “Housing security shouldn’t be a privilege, it should be the baseline.”
The NSW Rental Commissioner, Trina Jones, noted that engagement with over 100 stakeholders and 41 in-person sessions this financial year had informed the design and rollout of the reforms.
