The NSW Labor government will delay introducing its legislation to ban no-grounds evictions until next month in a bid to sell the reforms to landlords, who are warning that some investors will flee the state’s property market if the long-promised changes are introduced.

Premier Chris Minns used his keynote address to last weekend’s NSW Labor conference to confirm that his government would deliver on an election promise to overhaul rental laws, which will see landlords banned from evicting tenants without “commonsense and reasonable reasons”.

Home owners will need a reason to end a tenancy for both periodic and fixed-term leases, such as under existing rules where the renter is at fault for damage to the property or non-payment of rent.

Other reasons include if the property is being sold or offered for sale with vacant possession or if the owner decides to move into the home.

Data by electorates shows the state seat of Sydney has the highest number of renters, followed by Parramatta, Heffron, Newtown, Coogee and North Sydney.

However, the government’s overhaul is likely to face fierce opposition from investors, with a parliamentary inquiry on Friday hearing that changes to the rental laws could hit supply in NSW.

The inquiry, chaired by the Greens MP for Newtown Jenny Leong, heard from the Property Investors Council of Australia, which warned that no grounds evictions laws introduced in 2021 in Victoria “caught most property investors off guard” and “thousands” were leaving the market.

“The data reported in December quarter 2023 indicated a net loss of 11,789 rental properties in the calendar year, in the latest March quarter data that net loss of rental properties has now increased to 15,607,” the council said in a submission.

The national board chair, Ben Kingsley, told the inquiry that investors were increasingly turning to other states, especially Western Australia, to invest in property. The ACT, South Australia and Victoria are the only jurisdictions to have legislated no-grounds evictions.

He warned that the changes proposed for NSW could further exacerbate the problem.

“It’s a choice on the small business operators as to where they place their money and how they invest or divest their current portfolio, and we are not talking about 50 per cent of the market drying up overnight [in NSW], but we are talking about tens of thousands of properties at risk,” Kingsley said.

The Property Investment Professionals of Australia (PIPA) said “quickly incentivising everyday investors to get into the private rental market would be the most the efficient and immediate way of easing pressure”.

“Additional anti-investor policies that will drive even more landlords out of the market and prolong the rental crisis for many years to come,” the PIPA submission to the inquiry said.

The government may also face pushback from the opposition, which took a commitment to the election to end no-grounds evictions but only for fixed-term leases.

Originally Published: Alexander Smith | The Age | 3 August 2024

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/nsw/the-nsw-electorates-with-the-most-renters-revealed-20240801-p5jyil.html

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