We believe everyone deserves a safe, affordable and reliable home. Whoever forms the next Government needs to ensure we continue to back the 2.5 million people living in rental homes and support safe, healthy and affordable homes.

Available rental properties are few and far between, and of those, many fail to meet basic standards or show clear signs of poor maintenance. The number of people waiting for a social housing property continues to grow, and yet we know that those figures don’t represent the real housing need in our community, where many families are on the verge of homelessness due to the pressure of living in an under-regulated private rental market.

Although it is now illegal to evict a tenant without cause, renters still face housing insecurity because the combination of unlimited amount rents can be raised every 12 months, and reasonable grounds still mean you don't know how long you can rely on your home. Negotiating with a landlords continues to be a challenge most renters don’t want to take on, as evidenced by the very low number of cases brought to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal over excessive rent increases.

The lack of legislated rental energy efficiency standards means many renters choose to sweat through summer and suffer the cold in winter rather than pay the cost of rising energy bills. Mould is an ever-present problem familiar to most renters, and no regulation in rental laws addresses it.

These challenges are acutely felt by social housing renters whose homes have low energy efficiency and too often face unresolved maintenance issues, including mould.

This is the landscape of renting in NSW as we enter another state election campaign period. The quality and reach of the reforms on offer for renters will depend on how loudly and boldly we advocate for a fairer renting system. 

Ahead of the 2027 state election, the Tenants' Union calls for:

AFFORDABILITY

Fairer laws on rent increases

Housing is not secure as long as rent increases in NSW are unpredictable. The Tenants’ Union of NSW calls on the NSW Government to #rein-in-the-rents by introducing balanced rent regulation and making the process of excessive rent increase disputes fairer to improve rental affordability. 

The recent limit on rent increases to once every 12 months has been a welcome change, but as long as rents can be increased without any limits, and renters have the onus to establish if a rent increase is excessive, then renters’ ability to feel secure in their homes remains compromised.

Some of the key challenges we heard from renters during the Renters Forums we held in NSW in 2024 were unaffordable rents, the financial strain caused by rent increases and the high cost of securing a new rental home. Renters also talked about the breakdown of relationships with landlords and agents, with renters feeling powerless and fearing repercussions for asserting their rights.

As of April 2025, almost three-quarters of existing renters across Australia had experienced a rent increase in the previous year. A quarter had experienced an increase of more than 10%. Rental stress is creeping up the income scale, and rents are consuming an increasing proportion of salaries. With steep rent increases now common, housing advocates report that even six-figure earners are paying over 30% of their income on rent. 

Rent regulation is a proven way to improve affordability and bring back housing stability to renters under pressure. There are other essential services in NSW – energy, health, education and more – where the cost is regulated to ensure the service is accessible for everyone. The provision of housing is an essential service, yet rental prices are not similarly regulated to ensure accessibility. The NSW Government must ensure tenancy laws place a fair and reasonable threshold on rent increases during a tenancy and in between tenancies when there is a change of tenants.

The current process for tenants to challenge excessive rent increases reflects the broader imbalance of power between renters and landlords, with tenants bearing the burden of proof. Making the excessive rent increase dispute process fairer is an important step to improving rental affordability in NSW. 

The Tenants’ Union recommends the threshold be set at 3% at the commencement of these new provisions. This is the upper end of the Reserve Bank’s target inflation band. Any increase above 3% would require the landlord to demonstrate that the increase is not excessive. Where an increase is below 3%, the tenant should be required to demonstrate that it is excessive. 

Reining in the rents means stable cash flow for owners as well, avoiding unnecessary vacancy periods and predictable income. Just as commercial rents are predictable for years ahead, placing a reasonable expectation with flexiblity where it's needed creates the pathway for longer term, stable homes and investments. Developers can rely on predictability to plan new buildings.

When a landlord wishes to increase the rent above a reasonable threshold, the responsibility to justify and provide evidence for the increase would be more fairly allocated to the landlord or their agent. If the landlord wishes to increase the rent at or below the threshold, the tenant can seek an order from the Tribunal if they believe the increase is excessive. This change would allow the specific circumstances of the landlord, tenant, and the particular home to be considered, and the burden of making the case for whether a rent increase is excessive appropriately shared.

We also recommend empowering an independent agency or body (like IPART) to make regular (for example, 12-monthly) determinations on the threshold, having considered all relevant factors and stakeholder feedback. This would allow for a threshold that is responsive to local conditions, as well as being able to factor in a range of data and measures – such as general costs, wages and other relevant factors.

To ensure landlords are not incentivised to evict tenants to evade the threshold and the limit on one increase every 12 months, it is important that the threshold be applied to the setting of rent for a new tenant. The Tenants’ Union recommends applying a 3% threshold if a new tenant signs a tenancy agreement and moves in within 12 months of the previous tenant vacating, to allow for significant renovations or improvements.

Increase access to social homes

To deliver secure homes and sustainable communities, we need a rental system that includes 10% of social housing, in which the government holds a significant financial and managerial stake.

The longer we wait to build at the necessary scale, the harder it will be to meet the need.

In NSW, the social housing waitlist passed 70,000 households in June 2026, and less than 20% of people in housing stress are on the waitlist. The longer we wait to build at the necessary scale, the harder it will be to meet the need. 

The Homes for NSW 10 year strategy presents an opportunity to repair the damage caused to our publicly funded housing system over many decades. We are concerned that the ambitious Homes for NSW plan will not achieve its possible outcomes if funds are not provided to facilitate needed reforms.

The Tenants Union encourages the NSW Government to be bold in its future targets for supply of social housing and notes the investment in the 2023-24 budget was the largest nominal spend by a NSW government in history and targeted 6,200 new social housing homes and 2,200 replacement homes. However, an estimated 221,000 NSW households are currently on low or very low incomes and in need of genuinely affordable housing. This number is projected to grow to 320,000 by 2041. If we maintain 6,200 additional homes each and every year it would still take 35 years to build or acquire sufficient new homes to meet the current unmet need for public or community homes - we need to lift even further and invest in the community of NSW.

We support a doubling of the proportion of current social housing stock with a target of social housing properties accounting for 10% of all housing stock by 2041.

The community housing sector is seeking to contribute 37,500 additional properties over that time, meaning the NSW Government will need to deliver the annual construction or acquisition of 18,000 public housing properties each year over the next 15 years. This should be supported by contributions from all levels of government, though coordinated and measured through the state. 

This cannot be the end goal and instead should be viewed as a target which can be built on and expanded, however, reaching this target shows a serious intent to resolve the housing need in NSW.

 

Reset Affordable Housing rent setting guidelines 

The Tenants’ Union of NSW calls for the NSW Government to change the method for how Affordable Housing rents are set by mandating income-based rents and setting them at a level that is #ActuallyAffordable for the household.

As it stands, Affordable Housing providers are permitted to charge up to 80% of market rent for their properties but how they assess market rent isn't closely monitored. Households on very low and low incomes can be excluded from properties where they would pay 30% of their gross income in rent, and moderate income renters can be asked to pay well above that rate.

In the context of the lack of affordability in the private rental market, these rent setting/spending benchmarks lead to homes being offered at price points outside the reach of low- and very-low-income renters, the very people the Affordable Housing product was intended to assist.

The Tenants’ Union calls on the NSW Government to amend the NSW Affordable Housing Ministerial Guidelines to direct Affordable Housing providers to

• adopt an income based rent model that starts at 20% for very low income households with a sliding scale up to 30% for median income households or 80% of the median market rent in the area.

• allocate homes to a genuine mix across income bands

This is the only way to ensure true affordability of the product and provide relief for low and very-low income renters looking for a safe and stable home.

 QUALITY

Improve minimal quality standards for rental homes

Everyone deserves a home. Housing is the basis from which we ensure our communities’ well-being. 

This is not simply about the material, physical and structural protections housing provides, but also a sense of home and belonging within a wider community. People require not just basic shelter but a good home to live a safe, healthy and dignified life. It is well accepted that improving housing outcomes leads to improvements in health and well being.

The current minimum rental standards need to be strengthened. NSW rental laws do not require rental homes to meet minimum energy efficiency standards. While existing standards cover dampness and water penetration, they do not clearly address mould prevention or indoor air quality. The standards should require landlords and social housing providers to identify and fix the underlying causes of mould.

Energy efficiency standards should protect tenants from unsafe heat and cold, reduce energy hardship and make rental homes more climate resilient. This should include improving thermal efficiency, switching to efficient electric appliances and ensuring renters can share in the benefits of solar, batteries and other energy-saving technologies.

Minimum standards should apply across private rental, public housing, community housing and Aboriginal housing. Social housing providers should be properly funded to repair, maintain and upgrade homes, prioritising tenants most affected by poor housing, high energy costs and climate risk.

Compliance should not depend on tenants risking their housing security to enforce basic standards. Minimum standards must be met before a home can be advertised for rent.

Currently, they are required to be met at the time the tenancy agreement is signed, and therefore it falls on the tenant to raise issues with non-compliance once they have moved into their new home. Moving compliance with minimum standards to the point of advertisement provides a role for the Regulator to monitor compliance and undertake enforcement action.

Repairs and energy efficiency upgrades must also be implemented fairly, with safeguards against unfair rent increases, retaliatory eviction and displacement.

Legislate Minimal Energy Efficiency Standards for Rental Homes

NSW rental laws do not currently require rental homes to meet minimum energy efficiency standards. This leaves many renters living in homes that are uncomfortable, unhealthy and expensive to run.

The NSW Government must implement performance-based minimum energy efficiency rental standards (MEERS) with the primary objectives of improving the thermal safety of rental homes to protect renters’ health, improving energy affordability and reducing energy hardship for renters. Until standards are in place, research and experience have shown that the people who need the improvements the most will continue miss out.

MEERS should apply to all rental homes in NSW and be consistent and equitable. Implementation of MEERS should take into account the different climate zones in NSW so homes provide safe and affordable thermal conditions in the climate where they are located, particularly for renters vulnerable to extreme heat and cold. Using the NaTHERS rating certificate will ensure these different zones are considered in a home's energy rating.

MEERS should be considered part of the existing minimum standards for rental homes in NSW, and all minimum standards should be a requirement before homes can be advertised for rent.

The implementation of MEERS must include safeguards against the costs being passed onto tenants through unfair rent increases or try to end a tenancy just to re-let the home at a higher rent.

Improve standards for current social housing homes

Social housing must be planned, funded and managed as essential infrastructure that supports secure homes and sustainable communities. 

Existing social housing also requires investment into the repair, maintenance and upgrades to ensure homes are healthy, safe, accessible and energy efficient.  Investment must be based on the real scale, location and type of housing need, including people who are homeless, displaced, priced out of private rental or unable to access suitable housing.

Affordable rents alone cannot fund and grow the social housing we need. The NSW Government must provide sustained public investment, including up-front capital funding, to build, maintain and upgrade public, community and Aboriginal housing and back the community through the savings across government as a result.

Investment should not only build new social housing. It should also repair, maintain and upgrade existing public, community and Aboriginal housing so homes are healthy, accessible, energy efficient and safe in a changing climate. Repair and upgrade programs should prioritise homes and tenants facing the greatest health, accessibility, and climate risks.  

SUPPORT 

Invest in renters access to advice, advocacy and support through the Tenants' Advice and Advocacy Program

The NSW Government is choosing to forgo up to $200 million a year in revenue that wouldn't cost the government or the community a thing: the interest on renters' bonds. 

The 2026-27 budget papers show the NSW government expects to soon hold more than $2.5 billion in renters' bonds, but these funds are currently generating no interest to support renters or the rental sector. The $75 million being sent back to the Rental Bond Board from Treasury is equivalent to just a 2.9% return – less than the rate of inflation of 4.2%. In real terms, this means the government is actually losing renters' money that they are supposed to hold in trust.

Since 2003, the Tenants’ Advice and Advocacy Program has received only modest increases to its funding in real terms. Funding for the Tenants’ Advice and Advocacy Program has been increased with indexation payments generally below the increase in wages and other costs, and occasional time-limited increases to assist with significant events such as the introduction of the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 and the COVID-19 health crisis.

The $200 million a year in foregone investment revenue should partially be spent on supporting the Tenants' Advice and Advocacy Program, which is currently funded for less capacity per renter in the state than we had in 2008. An increase of $10 million a year would restore the program's baseline capacity, and further increases would enhance our ability to be there when renters need us - especially when facing eviction at the Tribunal.

Other expenditure could also enhance complaints and enforcement and improve renter's experience at Tribunal.

Between 2006 and 2021, the latest ABS Census data shows the number of people renting their homes has grown by 43 per cent. The number of bonds held by the Rental Bond Board increased by 53.7% from 2008 to 2025, and there has been high growth amongst the priority groups for the program, such as older renters, people with disabilities, and renters from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. 

This population growth, combined with the increasing complexity of casework as housing crises place greater pressure on the rental sector, has left Tenants’ Advice and Advocacy Services (TAAS) stretched thin. 

Increasingly, renters are missing out on the services they need to live their life without unnecessary distress. The Tenants' Union will continue advocating to the Rental Bond Board and NSW Treasury to ensure renters' money is being put to good use. The Rental Bond Board and NSW Treasury must ensure renters' money is being appropriately invested to help fund a strong Tenants' Advice and Advocacy Program. 

STABILITY

Consideration of tenant's circumstances at NCAT

By April 2025, almost three quarters of existing renters across Australia had experienced a rent increase in the previous year. A quarter had experienced an increase of more than 10%. 

Yet, in NSW, the excessive rent increase provisions are little used: they represented less than 5 per cent of all applications to the NSW Administrative and Civil Tribunal’s tenancy division in 2025, which is less than 1,400 applications. 

There are a number of reasons why tenants don't feel empowered to make these applications. When raised, matters taken to the Tribunal are mainly considered in relation to the market level of rent for comparable properties when determining if the rent increase is excessive. 

‘Fair market value’ is generally considered to be a price both parties are willing to enter into, where both are acting in their own best interests and are free of undue pressure. We know that renters currently feel pressure to accept an excessive rent increase due to concerns they might receive a notice of termination, the cost of moving house is not affordable,  and our very low vacancy rate makes finding a new home extremely difficult. 

Other factors, such as the current condition of the home, must be considered equally with, or even above, market rent when determining whether a rent increase is excessive. The failure of the rental housing system – with tight supply and little to no regulation of rents – has resulted in a current situation in which market rents for residential properties are not generally in line with what the community considers ‘fair market value’, and are increasingly disconnected from what many renters can reasonably afford.

While the list of concerns allows the Tribunal to consider ‘any other matter it considers relevant’, the Act explicitly restricts consideration of the renter’s ability to pay an increase and, by inference, the lack of any alternative affordable accommodation. 

Tribunal members must be directed to consider tenants’ circumstances when deciding whether a rent increase makes the cost of staying in their home prohibitively high, effectively forcing them out, sometimes into homelessness. Forced displacement pushes tenants into deeper financial hardship, disrupts support networks, and has significant flow-on costs for government and the wider community.

Tenancy rights for renters in shared accommodation

Many vulnerable renters are excluded from residential tenancy legislation and may have no legislated rights and remedies in relation to their housing.

The Boarding Houses Act 2012 gives some limited protections to residents of registrable boarding houses. Even where protections exist, they can be difficult to use if renters fear eviction, fee increases or other consequences for raising concerns.

Community standards and expectations regarding renting in NSW have changed in the last decade, and our renting laws need to adapt. Renters living in boarding houses or share housing situations not covered by the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 are often referred to as marginal renters. This means they are living in situations that are inadequate or unstable, lacking basic facilities and security of tenure and placing them at risk of homelessness. 

Sustaining current policy settings for people living in shared accommodation is not compatible with the NSW Homelessness Strategy 2025-2035. Continuing with diminished tenancy rights for people living in shared accommodation increases the risk of homelessness for this group of marginal renters.

The NSW government must provide all renters in NSW with coverage under the Residential Tenancies Act. The proposed Shared Accommodation Act can play a role in legislating additional requirements that relate to building and fire safety requirements. Fundamentally, renters living in all types of shared accommodation should be afforded the protections of the Residential Tenancies Act. 

Review of reasonable grounds regulation

The Tenants’ Union believes renters should not face termination of their tenancy or bear the financial and emotional cost of moving house unless there are reasonable grounds for it, rigorous evidence to support the ground, and proper consideration of the tenant’s circumstances.

In NSW, landlords can give a notice of termination on a number of prescribed grounds through no fault of the tenant. This includes where the landlord proposes to sell or the premises have been sold and the purchaser wants to move in, where the landlord wants to carry out significant renovations or repairs, or where the landlord or a family member wants to move in.

The Tenants’ Union believes there should be a limit to the prescribed grounds on which landlords can terminate, as well as a requirement for landlords to provide rigorous evidence to support a termination notice given under one of the prescribed grounds. 

Sale of property alone is not a reasonable ground to evict a tenant. There is no reason to assume that if the property is sold it will no longer be available for rent. Where the reason for ending the tenancy can reasonably be addressed without the tenant moving out, termination should not be the default outcome. For example, a home can often be prepared for sale while the tenant remains in occupation, and repairs or renovations may be managed through a negotiated temporary move.

Tribunal processes should recognise the significant power imbalance that often exists between landlords and tenants facing the loss of their home. At present, the Residential Tenancies Act provides discretion to the Tribunal in some termination proceedings. Where termination is for breach, for example, the Tribunal must consider the seriousness of the breach and whether it justifies termination. 

It is appropriate that for all termination proceedings the Tribunal be provided with discretion to decline termination if it does not believe it is reasonable and proportionate in the circumstances to evict the tenant. The Tribunal must be allowed to consider a range of relevant factors and the circumstances of the case to determine whether it is satisfied it is appropriate to terminate the tenancy.