FOCUS Residential Tenancies Act review, as published in The JOURNAL REINSW
Rallying our response for residential tenancies reform
As the NSW Government conducts the five-year review of the Residential Tenancies Act, REINSW harnessed the collective knowledge and experience of members to craft its case for reform.
BY JOHN CUNNINGHAM. President REINSW
The residential property market in NSW is entering a new era. There are now more than 820,000 residential rental households across the state, and demand for quality rental accommodation is set to rise over the coming years as more and more people move to NSW. Landlords, tenants and property managers need residential tenancy laws that respond to the market’s contemporary needs and strike the right balance between flexibility and certainty.
The Residential Tenancies Act 2010 introduced significant changes to the regulation of residential tenancies in NSW. Now, a little more than five years on, it's time to review the Act with a view to ensuring the right laws are in place to manage future developments in this vital area of real estate practice.
In June 2015, knowing that the mandated five-year review of the Act was imminent, the REINSW Property Management Chapter Committee took the decision to get ahead of the game. They formed a dedicated sub-committee to comprehensively review the Act and recommend changes. By the time the government’s Discussion Paper was released at the end of October 2015, the sub-committee had already compiled a detailed list of recommendations. Drawing on their own collective experience of more than 150 years in property management, the sub-committee also sought input from REINSW’s wider membership.