Support for renters and renting is one of the five key asks of Shelter NSW’s NSW State Election platform. We were very pleased and relieved to see that all major parties have committed to banning No Ground Evictions. But of course there are loopholes that we know will be exploited, requiring further action.

The ban on no-grounds evictions for periodic leases will make a difference to the lives of renters in NSW.  It will take the heat out of a rental market that we believe is currently gripped in an unfair frenzy. But more safeguards are needed given that the cross-party commitment excludes fixed-term leases. Tenant advocates have spoken of a dramatic rise in fixed-term leases with landlords using them to move faster through the rent rise cycle.
 
No Grounds Evictions as a whole should be replaced with a range of specified reasonable grounds, and these should be applied to all types of leases.
 
Rental reform has been a long-held goal of our fellow peaks and allies, but we would like to give a special shout out to the Tenants Union of NSW which has provided such principled and professional advice along the way.