Renting out a property in NSW works differently from how it did two years ago. The changes were introduced in stages through 2024 and 2025, and most landlords we speak to have heard about one or two of them but not the whole picture. This is the whole picture, as briefly as we can put it.
You now need a reason to end a lease
Since 19 May 2025, a landlord can't end a tenancy without a valid reason, whether the lease is fixed-term or periodic. The reasons the law accepts include selling the property with vacant possession, carrying out significant renovations or repairs, you or a family member moving in, and the tenant breaching the agreement, such as by falling behind on rent.
The reason has to be genuine and you need evidence for it. If you give notice because you're selling, for example, you should be able to show the agency agreement. Notice periods are also longer than they were, and a tenant who has been given notice and finds another home can leave early without paying a break fee.
Rent can go up once in any 12 months
Rent can increase at most once in any 12-month period, and that applies across fixed-term and periodic leases. A new lease with the same tenant doesn't reset the clock. You still need to give at least 60 days' written notice of an increase.
In practice this makes the annual rent review more important. If the rent is left behind the market for a year, it can only be brought back once, so it's worth getting the review right.
Pets: the process is set
Tenants now apply to keep a pet using a standard form, and a landlord can only refuse on the grounds the law sets out. Those include the property being unsuitable for the animal, the landlord living at the property, too many animals, and a council or strata rule the pet would breach. If a request isn't answered within 21 days, it's treated as approved.
Conditions can be attached to an approval, such as the pet being kept outside or carpets being professionally cleaned at the end of the lease. A tenant who thinks a refusal or condition is unreasonable can take it to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
Fees and payments
Tenants must be offered a free electronic way to pay rent, such as a bank transfer. Applicants can't be charged for background checks or for the preparation of the lease. Agents can't invite applicants to offer more than the advertised rent, and every rental advertisement has to state the rent.
What it means for you
None of this makes a well-run rental harder to own. It does make the details matter more: how a tenant is chosen, how the rent review is timed, how a pet request is answered and how a lease is ended. A mistake in any of them is now more likely to end up at the Tribunal.
The landlords who do best under the new rules are the ones whose properties were already being managed carefully.
This is a summary, not legal advice. NSW Fair Trading publishes the full rules for landlords and agents, and we're happy to talk through how they apply to your property.
