In response to upcoming changes to tenancy rules by the state government, NSW landlords are having a classic landlord whinge about the potential banning of no-grounds evictions. And they think renters are the entitled ones.
Going into the state election last March, both the NSW Labor and Liberal parties promised to ban no-grounds evictions — AKA, kicking out a tenant without providing a reason — if they won government. But now it’s 15 months later, and the Chris Minns‘ Labor government is yet to make good on that promise.
It’s a policy that the NSW Tenants’ Union said will help over 30,000 renting households, with policy and advocacy manager Jemima Mowbray saying someone receives this type of unfair eviction every 18 minutes.
“If a renter is facing eviction, and they’re not in breach of their agreement, it seems pretty reasonable to ask that their landlord provide them with a genuine reason for ending the tenancy,” Mowbray told PEDESTRIAN.TV.
Australia is one of the few places in the world where this type of eviction exists. After a quick Google I’ve found that not even North Korea has them.
However, the proposal to end no-grounds evictions has set off sirens to everyone in the state suffering from terminal landlord brainrot.
Now every property investor and their (spoilt) dog is having a whinge about how they won’t be able to live without the ability to boot out tenants at a whim.
Landlords upset at potential no-grounds eviction ban
Speaking to ABC, landlord Lucinda Morgan said that without no-grounds evictions, poor NSW landlords could be stripped of their freedom.
“It’s the landlord’s property. They should be able to have that right to choose who remains in their home,” Morgan told the publication.
Imagine that, losing your freedom — a basic human right.
I wonder if any other human rights are being taken away here? *cough* shelter *cough*
The property investor warned that if the state government goes forward with the ban “it will backfire”, and landlords would begin selling their houses in protest — just like the Victorian landlords threatened to.
To invoke the patron saint of renters, Jordan van der Berg AKA Purple Pingers: “Don’t threaten us with a good time.”
@purplepingers Its time to blackmail your landlord. If you know youre renting out an illegal subdivision, then its time for unethical tips with purplepingers. Tell them what you suspect and see what they say 🙃 #landlord #renting #purplepingers ♬ original sound – Jordan van den Lamb
The ABC reported that Morgan manages hundreds of properties around Albury. So hopefully first-home buyers in the area can look forward to having hundreds of new places put on the market.
On the other hand, Sydney-based landlord Keith Almeida gave the ABC a much more direct insight into his thoughts on the role of landlords in the rental market.
“It’s not a charity, it’s an investment,” he told the publication.
Which is wild, because again, I had this weird feeling they were called “homes”. Guess I’m just bonkers.
Here we have a property investor saying the quiet part out loud; that landlords are running a portfolio, and the fact they happen to be making all their money off of a human necessity is irrelevant.
Honestly, Keith’s blunt perspective is actually refreshing. I’m sick of landlords pretending they care about providing housing when it is painfully clear so many of them just want money.
Anyway, this is your weekly reminder that landlords provide housing in the same way scalpers provide concert tickets.
They don’t.
Why do advocates want no-grounds evictions banned?
The NSW Tenants’ Union believe that evictions and being forced to move have a major impact on the emotional and financial well-being of tenants. Additionally, in many cases, a no-grounds eviction can result in homelessness.
“No-grounds evictions don’t just impact renters at the point of eviction – every renter every day, holds off and holds back from making a fuss or asserting their rights. They don’t want to rock the boat,” Mowbray told PEDESTRIAN.TV.
Mowbray pointed out that the union wants to see this type of eviction model replaced with a “just cause” eviction model.
“Landlords would still be able to end a tenancy for breach (this is already a feature of our renting laws), and that new additional ‘no fault’ reasonable grounds are introduced, including grounds such as ‘the landlord or the family wants to move in’ or ‘change of use’,” she explained.
“This would mean renters were being provided a genuine reason for eviction, and that where the validity of the specified ‘reasonable’ grounds was in question this could be contested by the renter.”
And it’s not just advocates. Even some landlords think the change needs to happen, as the Tenant’s Union found via a survey.
Of the 300 landlords surveyed, 76 per cent supported the NSW Government’s proposal to end no-grounds evictions.
“The polling tells us that actually there are many landlords in NSW who are not happy with the status quo, and want a better and fairer renting system for NSW,” Mowbray informed.
So perhaps I was too soon to judge. Maybe not all landlords are that bad. Thin ice though, guys.
