State slammed for rule that aids bad landlords

Desperate Aussies in one state are demanding answers after a lack of action on an issue that some argue gives landlords an unfair advantage.

Renters have slammed the NSW Government for failing to deliver on its promise to ban “no grounds” evictions as new vacancy rate data shows tenants in some suburbs have nowhere to go.

Around 30,000 renting households each year receive a no-grounds eviction where landlords ask the tenant to leave their properties without requiring a reason.

Its equivalent to one eviction every 18 minutes - or three every hour, every day in NSW, according to NSW Tenants’ Union data.

Experts said reform was urgently needed given new data showed rental vacancies were at a record low across the state.

Rental conditions were particularly strained in Sydney’s more affordable markets, with only 0.6 per cent of rentals available for tenants in the Sutherland Shire and Canterbury-Bankstown.

NSW Labor and Premier Chris Minns put rental reform on the table prior to being elected. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nikki Short

A vacancy rate of 3 per cent normally indicates a balanced market where the supply of rentals matches tenant demand.

Other regions where vacancy rates were under 1 per cent included Liverpool, the outer southwest, outer western Sydney, The Central Coast and St George region, according to SQM Research.

Coupled with record tenant demand, it meant evicted renters had only a handful of housing options and those on the lowest incomes effectively had nowhere to go, property experts said.

Ending no grounds evictions was a key election promise, but the government has, to date and one year into office, failed to deliver the reform.

Tenants’ Union boss Leo Patterson Ross said the government needed to act on the issue given widespread support from both tenants and landlords for reform. The proposed reform would not restrict landlords from evicting tenants - it would just mandate them to provide a reason.

Lagging construction, coupled with record tenant demand, have eroded rental vacancies. Picture: AAP

An Ipsos poll done on behalf of the Tenants’ Union of NSW showed nearly 85 per cent of those surveyed agreed renters should be provided a reason if being told to vacate their home.

Nearly 90 per cent of tenants supported proposals to end “no grounds” evictions.

Landlords also wanted changes, with three quarters of those polled backing reform, according to the digital survey of 1200 people weighted to the census.

“The community is looking to the NSW government to deliver on this election commitment to make renting fairer,” Mr Patterson Ross said.

“It’s a year on from the election, and an incredibly tough period for renters. The community recognises that a fair and transparent approach to ending a tenancy is the way to go.”

Renter Lauren Perry has been evicted twice on no grounds and said the current system was flawed.

Competition for the scant supply of vacancies has risen. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Both times she was evicted, the properties were advertised back up for rent while she was still packing up her things and the whole experience impacted her mental health, Ms Perry said.

“It’s frustrating,” she said, adding that the current system “only serves the interest of landlords and real estate agents”.

“There needs to be much tighter oversight and regulation over real estate agents with so few safeguards,” she said.

One tenant who got served a no grounds eviction notice on Christmas Day said she felt the current system allowed landlords to get away with all manner of illegal evictions.

“If it’s a retaliatory eviction for requesting repairs, which they’re not allowed, all (the landlord) has to do is say the eviction is for no grounds and it’s hard to challenge,” she said.

Under the proposed change, landlords would still have the power to tell their tenants to leave when they have a suitable reason.

Minister for Better Regulation and Fair Trading Anoulack Chanthivong said the NSW government was “working through the complexity of reforms to end no-ground evictions”.

“Renters deserve better than changes that risk unintended consequences like higher lease turnover or less supply,” he said.

“Across government, we’re working to get new housing supply built because at the end of the day renters aren’t just being kneecapped by outdated rules, they’re being pressured by a failure to build homes for more than a decade.

“There is no nationally consistent approach to this challenge, and we’ve seen models in some states that haven’t worked as intended.”

Mr Patterson Ross said there was a bigger risk in simply leaving things as they are.

“We have been left behind by the rest of the world on this for years. We’re one of the last OECD countries that still have no grounds evictions,” he said.

NSW Tenants Union CEO Leo Patterson Ross said other countries had banned no grounds evictions to great success. Picture: Jonathan Ng

“There’s no evidence this reform will lead to disinvestment in the housing market. We have not seen a drop in SA and ACT, where there has been reform.

“It doesn’t actually cost a landlord anything to tell someone why they are leaving. There is no real loser here.

“The only kind of landlords who will potentially sell will be people committed to avoiding doing repairs, a very small group who are unwilling to follow the law.

“And most landlords understand that. They recognise it doesn’t impact them. They are happy to give renters a fair go.”

Mr Chanthivong noted that government was still exploring no grounds reforms, along with changes to make it easier to have pets in rentals, enhance privacy protections for tenants and closing loopholes to stop rent hikes more than once a year.

Originally published as State slammed for rule that aids bad landlords