Long-awaited tenancy reforms will help families build a stable life and stop young people fleeing Australia's most expensive market, but landlords who do the right thing have nothing to fear.
Rental-law changes were introduced to NSW parliament on Tuesday after years of debate and election promises.
More than 2.2 million tenants have been waiting for the overhaul after Labor and the coalition went into the 2023 state election promising to ban no-grounds evictions.
The changes get the balance right, giving renters stability and certainty but still allowing landlords to protect their assets, Fair Trading Minister Anoulack Chanthivong said.
"Landlords and renters have actually been pitted against each other, but we know landlords want good tenants and tenants want good landlords," Mr Chanthivong told parliament.
"These reforms are needed to help families build their lives around a home (and) to stop our young people abandoning this great state because they can't afford another rental increase."
Under the revisions, NSW landlords will be banned from evicting tenants without good reason or increasing rents more than once a year.
Some grounds for eviction remain, including a change in use, preparation for sale, renovations, if a family member is moving in, or if a tenant breaches their rental agreement.
Most landlords would view the changes as reasonable and sensible, the minister said.
"The new grounds could only be viewed as problematic by the minority of landlords and agents who don't want to do the right thing," Mr Chanthivong said.
Tenants can currently have their rent increased more than once a year if they are on a fixed-term lease of less than two years or a periodic month-to-month lease.
The changes will bring the state into line with other jurisdictions and close loopholes.
They will also make it easier for tenants to own pets, although having an unsuitable property will still be grounds for refusal.
Rental property application platforms will also be banned from asking tenants to pay for their own background checks.
Existing requirements to provide at least one way to pay rent without incurring additional cost will be strengthened to specify bank transfers or the Centrepay bill-paying service for welfare recipients.
The government wants the laws to come into effect in 2025, if they pass parliament.
NSW Tenants' Union chief executive Leo Patterson Ross said the changes were a fundamental and necessary first step in protecting renters.
Landlords being able to evict tenants for no reason undermined any other rights renters might have, he said.
"Of course it does not directly address the issue of pricing, which is still very high," Mr Patterson Ross said.
Real Estate Institute of NSW chief executive Tim McKibbin said the removal of landlords' rights "under the guise of populist rental reforms" would have a negative impact on renters.
Investment in extra homes to increase rental supply instead needed encouragement, the industry body said.
