Michael Murray
Managing Director, Murray Property · 22+ years in property management across Darlinghurst & Surry Hills
NSW banned no-grounds evictions on 19 May 2025 as part of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2024, the biggest overhaul of rental law in this state in decades. Over a year on, I still have landlords asking me what this actually means for them in practice. This post is the plain-English answer.
The short version: you still have every right to end a tenancy when there is a genuine reason to do so. What you can no longer do is end a tenancy for no stated reason. The law requires a valid ground, proper documentation, the correct notice period, and a Termination Information Statement with every notice you issue. Get it wrong and the penalties are material.
Here is exactly what changed, what you need to know, and what good practice looks like in this new environment.
What changed and when
Before 19 May 2025, NSW landlords could end any residential tenancy, fixed-term or periodic, without providing a reason, as long as they gave the required notice. An estimated 45 per cent of tenancies in NSW were ending without any stated reason. That is no longer lawful.
The key changes that took effect on 19 May 2025:
- No-grounds terminations are now unlawful for all tenancy types, both fixed-term and periodic agreements
- Every termination notice must state a valid reason from the list in the Act
- Supporting documentation must accompany the notice for most grounds
- Notice periods increased for fixed-term leases (from 30 days to 60 or 90 days depending on lease length)
- Re-letting restrictions (relet exclusion periods) apply after certain types of termination
- Heavy penalties apply to landlords and agents who issue notices on non-genuine grounds
From 1 July 2025, an additional requirement came into effect: when claiming or releasing a rental bond through Rental Bonds Online, landlords and agents must complete a mandatory survey recording how and why the tenancy ended. This data is reported to NSW Fair Trading and is used to check for patterns of non-compliance.
One year on, the compliance pictureSince the ban took effect, the NSW Rental Taskforce has identified 7,712 rental compliance matters and issued close to 600 fines totalling nearly $421,650. Around 30 termination matters have been found in direct breach of the no-grounds rules, with fines of $65,450 issued. Compulsory reporting shows that 84 per cent of tenancies are ending at the tenant’s choice, not the landlord’s. The compliance data suggests most landlords are doing the right thing. But enforcement is active and ongoing.
Valid grounds for ending a tenancy
The law sets out a specific list of grounds a landlord can use to end a tenancy. These are not suggestions, they are the only lawful bases for issuing a termination notice. Each ground has its own documentation requirements and notice period.
| Ground | Notice required | Relet restriction |
|---|---|---|
| Significant renovations or repairs requiring vacant possession | 90 days (periodic or fixed >6 months) 60 days (fixed ≤6 months) | Yes — minimum 4 weeks |
| Demolition of the property | 90 days (periodic or fixed >6 months) 60 days (fixed ≤6 months) | Applies — varies |
| Change of use (property no longer used as a rental) | 90 days (periodic or fixed >6 months) 60 days (fixed ≤6 months) | 12 months |
| Owner or owner’s family member moving in | 90 days (periodic or fixed >6 months) 60 days (fixed ≤6 months) | Yes — applies |
| Sale of property (contract exchanged — actual sale) | 30 days | 6 months — cannot relet within this period |
| Proposed sale (property listed but not yet sold) | 90 days (periodic or fixed >6 months) 60 days (fixed ≤6 months) | Applies |
| Tenant ineligibility (affordable housing / student accommodation) | 90 days | N/A |
| Breach — non-payment of rent | 14 days | None |
| Breach — other breach of agreement | 14 days | None |
| Hardship to landlord (Tribunal order required) | Tribunal determines | None |
| Death of sole tenant | Statutory process | None |
| Property uninhabitable | Varies | None |
Source: Residential Tenancies Act 2010 (NSW) as amended by the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2024. Effective 19 May 2025. For the complete list of grounds and documentation requirements, see the NSW Fair Trading changes to rental laws page
What every termination notice must include
Regardless of the ground, every termination notice issued after 19 May 2025 must contain all of the following:
- The notice must be in writing and signed by the landlord or their agent
- The address of the rental property
- The termination date, the date by which the tenant must vacate
- The valid reason (ground) for ending the tenancy
- Supporting documentation specific to the ground (e.g. a signed statement from the landlord for owner-occupancy, or a contract/tradesperson quote for renovations)
- A copy of the Termination Information Statement, a prescribed NSW Fair Trading document that sets out the tenant’s rights
The Termination Information Statement is not a document you write yourself. It is published by NSW Fair Trading and must be included as-is with every termination notice. Issuing a notice without it is non-compliant.
Re-letting restrictions: the detail most landlords miss
One of the less-discussed aspects of the legislation is the re-letting restriction, also called the relet exclusion period. Where a landlord ends a tenancy on certain grounds, they are prohibited from re-listing the property for rent for a specified period after the tenancy ends.
The purpose is clear: to prevent landlords from using a legitimate-sounding ground, “I’m moving in” or “I’m selling”, as a pretext for removing a tenant, only to immediately re-list the property at a higher rent.
The key restrictions to know are:
- Sale of property: 6 months relet restriction, the property cannot be re-let within six months of the tenancy ending on this ground
- Change of use (no longer used as rental): 12 months relet restriction
- Significant renovations: minimum 4 weeks relet restriction
- Owner/family move-in: restriction applies, specific period depends on circumstances
Important, reletting during an exclusion periodRe-letting a property within an exclusion period without approval carries the same penalty as issuing a notice on a non-genuine ground, up to $11,000 for an individual and $71,500 for a corporation. NSW Fair Trading actively monitors this through the Rental Bonds Online survey data. If your reason for ending a tenancy doesn’t match what happens next with the property, expect scrutiny.
Penalties for getting it wrong
$11,000
Maximum penalty for an individual landlord issuing a notice on a non-genuine ground
$71,500
Maximum penalty for a corporation (including some agencies)
Beyond fines, a tenant who believes their eviction reason was not genuine has 90 days from receipt of the notice to apply to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) for a review. NCAT can order the landlord to pay compensation, including the tenant’s moving costs. From 1 July 2025, NSW Fair Trading also collects mandatory reporting data on all tenancy terminations, which means patterns of non-genuine terminations across a landlord’s portfolio will surface in the data.
The practical implication: if you end a tenancy on the grounds of significant renovations, you should actually be undertaking significant renovations. If you claim owner-occupancy, someone in your family should actually be moving in. The evidence requirement and the reletting restriction work together to make the system self-enforcing in a way the old no-grounds framework never was.
What this means in practice for landlords in Darlinghurst and Surry Hills
For most landlords I work with, the day-to-day impact of this legislation is minimal, because most of the reasons they have legitimately needed to end tenancies over the years are on the valid grounds list. Selling a property, moving a family member in, undertaking major renovation work, all legitimate, all still lawful, all achievable with the right process in place.
Where it changes things is around two scenarios that were common under the old framework.
The first is the end-of-fixed-term situation. Previously, a landlord who simply wanted a tenant gone at the end of a lease, perhaps due to a personality clash with a property manager, concern about wear and tear, or a desire to re-price the property, could issue a no-grounds notice and that was that. That option is gone. If you want a tenant to leave at the end of a lease and there is no genuine ground, you cannot force the issue. The tenancy rolls over to periodic and continues.
The second scenario is using renovation as a pretext. I have seen landlords in other markets try to use the renovations ground to remove a tenant, then do minor cosmetic work and re-list at a higher rent. The four-week relet restriction and the documentation requirements, which include a written statement explaining why vacant possession is necessary, and in some cases a tradesperson contract, make this approach both difficult and legally risky.
The straightforward takeaway: manage your tenancies well, maintain your properties properly, and deal with genuine issues through the correct legal channels. If you do that, the new legislation doesn’t change your fundamental position as a landlord. It does, however, remove the option of using termination notices as a blunt management tool.
The mandatory bond survey: don’t overlook it
Since 1 July 2025, every time a rental bond is claimed or released through Rental Bonds Online, the landlord or agent must complete a survey recording who ended the tenancy and why. If the landlord ended the tenancy, the specific ground must be stated.
You have 14 days from the initial bond claim to complete the survey. Missing that window carries a $110 penalty notice, modest, but the bigger issue is that the survey data links directly to the termination framework. If your stated ground doesn’t align with what actually happened with the property, the inconsistency is flagged. Given that NSW Fair Trading has already identified nearly 7,800 compliance matters in the first year alone, this is not a system to approach casually.
For further reading on NSW rental legislation, see our related post on NSW rent increase rules in 2026. For a full picture of the Darlinghurst and Surry Hills rental market, our landlord guide covers yields, vacancy rates, and what drives premium rent in the 2010 postcode.
Staying on top of changes like this is exactly the kind of thing a property manager handles as a matter of course, if you’d rather not track every legislative update yourself, see our property management page for Darlinghurst and Surry Hills.
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Disclaimer: This post provides general information about NSW rental legislation as it stood in June 2026. It is not legal advice. For advice specific to your situation, consult a solicitor or contact NSW Fair Trading on 13 32 20. Legislation may be updated, always verify against the current NSW Fair Trading rental laws page.