NSW Residential Tenancies Act 2018 reforms have passed without amendment

NSW Residential Tenancies Act 2018 reforms have passed without amendment
Staff reporterDecember 8, 2020

Reforms to the Residential Tenancies Act have passed without amendment.

REINSW President Leanne Pilkington (pictured above) said the Residential Tenancies Amendment (Review) Bill 2018 passed and REINSW was now commencing the first phase of educating the property management community.

She stated it is important for the profession to understand all of the changes that the new Bill includes as these major changes affect the real estate industry, landlords & tenants.

Particularly as the new rental laws are set to favour tenants.

The Real Estate Institute of NSW had claimed it was blindsided by the proposals and its concerns ignored.

“There are well-meaning, passionate views on both sides of the debate,” Matt Kean, the Minister said in response to a broadside from the institute.

”But my job is to make sure we get the balance right … and get the policy settings in place that will mean landlords and tenants get the best of both worlds.”

McKibbin has more recently sent a letter to NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian saying people "would be horrified to learn of the level and quality of support the industry receives from Government and the risk this exposes them to as consumers in comparison to the supportive regulatory structure provided to the industry in the other States and Territories of Australia."

McKibbin claimed it would be "grossly negligent" for Ms Berejiklian to ignore the issue.

"We (the real estate industry) are the biggest industry in this state and this country. We make a greater contribution to state revenue than any of the other industries. I would be very surprised if the Premier would ignore a dissatisfied property industry - I think that would be grossly negligent to discard our position," Mr McKibbin claimed.

The REINSW will be however conducting training sessions in 17 locations across the state beginning in Sydney on the 25 October and running to 29 November.

The second phase will follow the release of the Regulation, which are the guidelines that dictate how the act should be applied.

The REINSW had worked to identify areas where reform was needed.

Ms Pilkington said "while many of our lobbying efforts have been adopted in whole or part by the Government, a lot have been ignored, such as the Government’s proposed changes to: alterations to property, break fees, domestic violence, rent increases, and more."

The bill will now be sent to the Governor of NSW for his assent.

The date for the reforms to be put into action has yet to be disclosed. 

Editor's Picks