Renting in New South Wales: rent rises, lease endings and pets

In this article

Written by

Kooky

Builder of Shaka, the payment router that pays every agent their commission on closing date.

About Kooky and Shaka →

A tenancy in New South Wales runs on different rules from the ones that applied two years ago. Between October 2024 and September 2026 the state changed how often rent can rise, why and how a landlord can end a lease, how a request to keep an animal is decided, and how rent can be paid. Each change arrived on its own date, and several of them apply to leases that were signed long before.

This guide follows the rules as NSW Fair Trading and the New South Wales Government set them out on their public pages, in the order a tenancy meets them: the rent, the end of the lease, the pet, the payment, the bond. Everything here is New South Wales law, under the Residential Tenancies Act 2010; other states and territories have their own. Where the pages read for this guide do not give a figure, the guide says so instead of filling the gap.

NSW Government pages on rent increases, minimum notice periods and pets in rentals, as read on 10 October 2026.

Five dates that built the current rules

The reforms did not start together. NSW Fair Trading's page on the changes to rental laws, last updated on 21 September 2026, gives a commencement date for each, and the date matters because it decides which rule applied to a notice or a request made at a given time.

One more date sits between the first two and the rest. On 20 June 2025, according to the same page, the supporting documents a landlord must provide when ending a tenancy for significant renovations or repairs were changed.

From 31 October 2024, NSW Fair Trading says, a tenant or a prospective tenant cannot be charged extra costs when searching for, applying for or starting a tenancy. The page names two examples: a fee for a background check and a fee for preparing the tenancy agreement.

Rent increases: one a year, with 60 days' notice

The New South Wales Government's page on rent increases, last updated on 10 October 2025, sets out two time limits that work together.

The first is a waiting period at the start. Rent cannot be raised within the first 12 months of a tenancy. The second is a gap: once the rent has been increased, the landlord must wait at least 12 months before increasing it again.

Before 31 October 2024 the once-a-year limit covered only periodic leases and fixed-term leases of two years or more, according to NSW Fair Trading. Since that date it covers all lease types, including leases that were already in place.

Signing a new lease does not reset the clock. The rent increases page treats a renewed lease, or a lease switched from one type to another, as the same agreement when three things are true: the landlord has not changed, at least one tenant is the same, and the tenant has not moved out. In that case the 12 months run from the last increase, not from the date of the new paperwork.

Notice comes on top of the 12 months. The landlord or agent must give written notice at least 60 days before the increase takes effect. The page accepts three forms of notice: the landlord's own written notice, an email, or the state's notice of rent increase form. Whatever the form, the notice must state the proposed new rent, and the page is specific that this means the new amount and not the size of the rise. It must state the date from which the higher rent is payable, and it must be signed, dated and properly addressed to the tenant.

A worked example, with assumed dates: a tenancy starts on 1 March 2025. The rent cannot rise before 1 March 2026, the end of the first 12 months. For an increase to take effect on that day, written notice has to reach the tenant at least 60 days earlier, which means by 31 December 2025 (31 days of January plus 28 days of February make 59, and 31 December is the sixtieth day back). After that increase, the next one cannot take effect for at least another 12 months, whether or not the parties sign a new lease in between.

Social housing is the one exception the page names. There, rent can rise more than once in 12 months only when the increases come from a review of the tenant's rent rebate.

Short fixed terms and how an increase is challenged

Fixed-term leases of under two years have a rule of their own, and here the two state pages describe the cut-off differently. NSW Fair Trading's changes page says rent cannot be increased under pre-existing fixed-term leases of under two years unless the increase is validly written into the agreement. The rent increases page applies the rule to fixed terms of under two years that began before 13 December 2024. Both pages agree on the substance.

For such a lease, if no increase amount or method is written into the agreement, the rent cannot be increased during the term. If the agreement does set out an increase, the increase must follow what is written, and what is written has to be precise: a dollar amount, or an exact method of calculation. The page gives two examples of wording that is not valid: an increase "in line with the market" and an increase "by the rate of inflation".

A tenant who receives a notice has two routes, according to the same page.

The first is to negotiate before the new rent starts. The page points to the median rent range shown by Rent Check as a way to compare. A lower increase agreed this way does not need a fresh 60-day notice: it is payable from the date in the original notice.

The second is the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal, known as NCAT. A tenant can apply within 30 days of receiving the rent increase notice. The burden sits with the tenant, who must prove that the increase is excessive. The page lists what the Tribunal considers: rents for comparable properties, the state of repair of the property and its amenities, and the landlord's expenses. If it finds the increase excessive, the Tribunal can set the rent for the next 12 months.

Why a landlord can now end a lease

Since 19 May 2025 a landlord in New South Wales must give a valid reason to end a tenancy. NSW Fair Trading lists eight reasons on its changes page:

1. The tenant is at fault.
2. The property is being sold, or offered for sale, with vacant possession.
3. The property must be empty for significant repairs or renovations, or will be demolished.
4. The property will no longer be a rental home.
5. The landlord or the landlord's family intend to move in.
6. The tenant lived there for a job that has ended.
7. The tenant is no longer eligible for an affordable or transitional housing program, or for student accommodation.
8. The property is key worker housing.

The New South Wales Government's page on a landlord ending a tenancy, last updated on 18 November 2025, breaks these down further and adds situations that go through the Tribunal or follow an event: a property that has become unusable, the death of a sole tenant, an occupant who remains, and hardship to the landlord. It cites Part 5, Divisions 2 and 5, and Part 7 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2010.

Two points on scope come from the same page. The grounds apply to all tenancies, including those that started before 19 May 2025. And a notice that was properly given under the previous law remains valid.

Some grounds carry their own thresholds. For non-payment, the rent, water or utility charges must have been unpaid for at least 14 days before the notice is given. For a tenancy of 20 years or more, only a Tribunal order ends the lease, and the tenant gets at least 90 days to leave. Where a landlord relies on hardship, a Tribunal order is needed and the Tribunal may order compensation to the tenant.

How much notice each reason needs

The notice period depends on the reason and on the kind of lease. The New South Wales Government's page on minimum notice periods, last updated on 19 May 2025, sets them out; the main ones for a landlord follow.

The 60 and 90 day periods also apply to the student accommodation, affordable housing, transitional housing and key worker grounds. When an employee or caretaker agreement ends, the notice is the longer of 30 days or the period set in the agreement. When the property is unusable or a sole tenant has died, notice can take effect immediately.

The notice itself has a set content. According to the landlord ending a tenancy page it must be in writing, signed and dated, and it must include the address of the property, the date the tenancy ends and the ground relied on. It must come with a termination information statement, for which the state publishes a template, and with any supporting documents the ground requires. It can be handed over in person, sent by mail, sent by email to an address the tenant has specified, or left by hand in an addressed envelope. A notice sent by post needs an extra 7 working days for delivery.

Tenants have notice periods too. On the same notice periods page, a tenant ending a periodic agreement for any reason gives 21 days, and a tenant leaving at the end of a fixed term gives 14 days. A tenant in a fixed term of two years or more who receives a rent increase can leave on 21 days' notice. A termination for domestic violence takes effect immediately.

The documents and the wait before re-letting

A reason is not enough by itself for several grounds: the landlord has to back it with documents, and afterwards cannot simply put the home back on the rental market. The landlord ending a tenancy page gives both the evidence and the length of the re-letting exclusion for each.

A few details complete the table. For an actual sale, the landlord provides a copy or an extract of the contract, or a letter from a solicitor or conveyancer. The change-of-use ground means the property will not be a rental for at least 12 months; if it is to become short-term rental accommodation, the page asks for proof from the state's short-term rental register. The moving-in ground requires the landlord or the family member to live there for at least 6 months, and the 6-month exclusion does not stop the named family member from living there. Demolition work, like renovation work, must start within 2 months of the tenant moving out.

Circumstances can change after a tenant has left. NSW Fair Trading says a landlord whose situation changes for reasons beyond their control can apply to it for approval to re-let during the exclusion period. Entering a new lease during that period without approval can bring a penalty.

A worked example, with assumed facts: a landlord on a periodic lease wants to move into the property and hands the tenant a notice on 1 June 2026. The minimum is 90 days, and 90 days counted from 1 June 2026 reach 30 August 2026 (29 remaining days of June, 31 of July, 30 of August). The notice carries the landlord's signed statement and the termination information statement. If it had been posted instead, 7 working days would be added for delivery. Once the tenant has gone, the home cannot be let again for 6 months unless NSW Fair Trading approves. The pages read for this guide do not spell out how the first and last days are counted, so the exact final day in a real case depends on the Act and on how the notice was served.

What a tenant can do with a termination notice

The same page lists the tenant's options, which differ with the ground.

On non-payment, the tenant does not have to leave if all the amounts owing are paid, or if the tenant follows a repayment plan agreed with the landlord. On a breach, the Tribunal may decline to end the agreement where the tenant has fixed the breach.

On any ground, a tenant can apply to the Tribunal if the landlord did not follow the correct process, gave supporting documents that are false or misleading, or relied on a ground that is not genuine. A landlord may withdraw a notice, but only with the tenant's consent.

A reason alone does not end a New South Wales tenancy: the notice, the documents and the days all have to be right.

Keeping a pet: the 21-day clock

The pet rules changed on 19 May 2025, and the New South Wales Government's page on pets in rentals was last updated on 8 October 2026. A tenant still needs the landlord's consent to keep any animal other than an assistance animal. What changed is that the landlord can refuse only on listed grounds, and that silence now counts as a yes.

The procedure runs as follows, according to that page.

1. The tenant fills in the state's form to apply to keep a pet in a rental property. Every tenant named on the agreement signs it.
2. The tenant gives the form to the landlord or the agent. A form not signed by all co-tenants is not valid, and the clock does not start.
3. The landlord has 21 days to respond. The count starts the day after the application is given and includes weekends and public holidays. For an application sent by post, 7 working days are added for delivery.
4. If no response arrives within the 21 days, the pet is approved automatically, without conditions.
5. If the landlord refuses or sets a condition, the tenant can apply to NCAT within 28 days of the response.

A worked example, with assumed dates: a valid form is handed to the agent on Monday 3 August 2026. Day one is Tuesday 4 August, and day 21 is Monday 24 August 2026. With no reply by the end of that day, the animal is approved without conditions.

The page lists eight grounds for refusal. There would be too many animals, which means more than four in total and an unreasonable number. The fencing is not appropriate. There is not enough open space. The animal cannot be kept humanely at the property. The animal is highly likely to cause damage costing more than the rental bond. Keeping it would break another law, or by-laws, though the page notes that a by-law banning all pets is not valid. The landlord lives in the same home. Or the tenant did not agree to reasonable conditions.

Some things are not grounds. Religion and allergy cannot justify a refusal unless the landlord lives in the same home. A dog being restricted, dangerous, menacing or declared a nuisance is not, taken alone, a reason to refuse.

Conditions are limited as well. A landlord may require that an animal not usually kept inside stays outdoors. Professional carpet cleaning can be required only if the animal lives indoors, and professional fumigation only if it lives indoors and is a mammal. A landlord may not raise the bond or the rent because of the animal, nor ask for any other security, such as insurance.

Three further points come from the same page. A tenant who applies within 7 days after signing a new tenancy agreement can keep the pet while waiting for the answer. If a refusal is challenged at the Tribunal, the pet can stay while the application is considered, and if the application is dismissed or withdrawn the tenant has a further 21 days to remove it. Consent given before the new rules started still stands. In a strata building, strata approval is a separate matter.

Paying rent without a fee

NSW Fair Trading's changes page names the payment methods a landlord or agent must offer with no additional fees: an approved bank transfer, which covers EFT, direct debit and BPAY, or Centrepay. The New South Wales Government's page on how and when to pay rent, last updated on 17 March 2026, adds the detail.

Centrepay is run by Services Australia. The page describes it as a free and voluntary service for Centrelink customers. Landlords and agents have had to offer it since 2 March 2026, but they only need to set it up when a tenant chooses it, and the tenant cannot be charged for using it.

The limits on fees are drawn carefully. A landlord or agent cannot charge a fee, or pass on a cost, for one of the standard methods. A tenant may still pay the ordinary fees of their own bank. If the tenant chooses a method outside the standard ones, a fee for the landlord's or agent's costs may be charged.

NSW Fair Trading adds that a tenant cannot be required to use a particular service provider, such as an app, to pay rent. And the choice is not fixed at the start: a tenant can switch to a standard method at any time.

Two older rules sit on the same page. A landlord or agent can ask for up to 2 weeks' rent in advance and no more, and cannot ask for a further payment until the period already paid for has ended. As a worked example, on an assumed rent of A$650 a week, the most that can be requested in advance is A$1,300. And when rent is 14 days late, the landlord can give a termination notice, on the terms described above.

Bonds, the exit survey and Smart Rental Bonds

A rental bond, in the New South Wales Government's definition, is money a tenant pays to a landlord or agent that is held by NSW Fair Trading as security. Tenants, landlords and agents manage and claim bonds through Rental Bonds Online, the state's bond system.

That system now also records how tenancies end. NSW Fair Trading says a landlord or agent must complete a survey in Rental Bonds Online within 14 days when claiming or releasing a bond. The survey asks who ended the tenancy and how, and where the landlord ended it, the landlord must give the reason.

Since 10 August 2026 the state has also run Smart Rental Bonds. NSW Fair Trading describes it as an optional scheme that lets an eligible tenant transfer an existing bond to a new rental within New South Wales.

The protections that started on 21 September 2026 reach the bond too. Under them, the Tribunal can order a co-tenant to pay a departing tenant their share of the bond. The same set of changes has the landlord or agent notify co-tenants within 7 days, and provides that a tenant is not liable for property damage the Tribunal finds was caused by domestic abuse.

What the state's pages leave open

Those figures were not on the pages read, so this guide does not state them. The same goes for how days are counted in a notice period and for the date from which a re-letting exclusion runs.

Kooky, from Shaka

Kooky edits Agents Estate and builds Shaka, the payment router he made for real estate professionals. One payment comes in, and every agent, agency and party in the deal receives their signed share on closing date.

About Kooky and Shaka →