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Landlords or tenants? NSW rental shake-up reveals who is really ending leases
The NSW government has continued its crackdown on unfairness in the rental market and no-grounds evictions, scrutinising the reasons landlords give for ending tenancies.
The NSW government’s first mandatory End of Tenancy Survey revealed the most common reasons leases ended in the last financial year, as it continues its crackdown on unfair evictions.
In May 2025, reforms took effect, requiring landlords and property managers to provide lawful reasons and supporting evidence when ending a lease.
The survey collected over 275,000 responses from landlords and agents during the 2025–26 financial year, representing around 90 per cent of bonds refunded during the period.
According to the findings, almost two-thirds of landlord evictions were due to three key reasons deemed valid under the reforms.
The permitted reasons included the landlord or a family member moving back into the property (28 per cent), the proposed sale of a property (20 per cent), or the actual sale of a property (14 per cent).
It also found that renters ended 85 per cent of leases, rather than landlords.
Prior to the reforms, an estimated 45 per cent of leases were being ended without a reason given.
In separate government polling, almost three in four renters reported feeling better protected since the ban on no-grounds evictions began.
According to the state government, the new landlord and property manager survey was rolled out to create a more transparent rental market, backed by renter security.
It was designed to replace an outdated, optional survey with a low response rate that reportedly did not accurately reflect why leases ended.
Under the raft of reforms last year, the government also introduced re-letting exclusion periods to ensure there were genuine reasons for eviction.
According to Minister for Better Regulation and Fair Trading Anoulack Chanthivong, making rental data transparent was essential to ensure fairness in the market.
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“That’s exactly what these results are achieving: a better understanding of renting so that we can achieve better outcomes for renters and landlords,” he said.
“The data reflects the government’s ban on no-grounds evictions in action, providing renters with the security and stability that only Labor can deliver.”
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