Evictions ban: What it means for tenants and landlords

The first details have emerged over the flagged NSW tenant evictions ban with revelations it’s not a straight six-month prohibition as first expected.

• Property investors fear ruin from six-month eviction ban

Some landlords are urgently moving to evict tenants to beat a ban on lease terminations as “opportunists” who are well and in work seek rent reductions.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal the shape of the ban is becoming clearer – a possible 120-day initial period with the option to extend in 90-day blocks. The incentive to prevent squatting will be a legal obligation to pay up after the coronavirus crisis passes.

Property management. For Rent Sign.

The financial future of Australia’s more than two million investment property owners has been thrown into chaos by the looming prohibition on lease terminations that is being developed by the National Cabinet of state premiers, territory leaders and Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

A sense of chaos has been created by the ban having been flagged without any information about how the interests of landlords will be protected.

To make matters worse, the unity meant to be provided by National Cabinet has been undermined by the NSW and Tasmanian parliaments moving ahead with bans before a national agreement is in place.

A NSW government source on Thursday said there were anecdotal reports of an increase in eviction action after a ban framework was added to the statutes on Tuesday night.

“These owners would prefer their properties were empty,” the source said. “That’s how ridiculous this situation is.”

The source said the government was furious at the panic caused by the ban framework, which was successfully added to a COVID-19 “emergency measures” bill by the Greens with the support of Labor, the Shooters and the Animal Justice Party in the upper house of parliament.

The government then had no choice but to accept the amendment in the lower house.

NSW Tenants Union spokesman Leo Patterson Ross said some landlords had written letters to renters saying their own finances had taken a hit so they needed to move out of their more expensive home and into renters’ cheaper property.

REINSW boss Tim McKibbin.

Real Estate Institute of NSW CEO Tim McKibbin said “agents are getting smashed” with bids for rent reductions.

This included requests for “opportunists” who were well and in work, Mr McKibbin said.

“People are just trying it on,” he said. “What have they got to lose?”

Meanwhile, the Tasmanian government on Thursday night revealed the changes it passed on Wednesday were based on National Cabinet’s ongoing discussions.

Evictions on the Apple Isle have been banned there for an initial “emergency period” of 120 days, which can be extended in 90-day blocks.

The state’s Business and Construction Minister Elise Archer said there was an “incentive” for tenants to keep paying rent during the emergency period, where they were able to do so.

“The incentive … is that they will not be penalised by losing their bond or potentially facing eviction when the emergency period ends,” Ms Archer said.

If the bond does not cover the rent shortfall, a landlord can take legal action to recoup what they are owed, as was the case before the changes.

“These measures are consistent in general terms with measures being discussed nationally,” Ms Archer said.

Originally published as Evictions ban: What it means for tenants and landlords