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[RL]

Hi folks

I’m told that now in NSW, when a fixed term lease expires, if the tenant declines to take a new fixed term lease, the landlord must offer a month-to-month lease unless they have “grounds for termination” such as selling the property, moving in themselves etc.

I can’t find any specific guidance from NSW gov on this and I’m reluctant to plow through the legislation itself.  https://www.tenants.org.au/resource/law-change gives a perspective on the changes, but doesn’t say anything about what happens when a fixed term ends, it only covers “eviction”.

Is what I’m told correct?

RL

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[Jimmy-T]

This is what the Tenants Union website says:

New eviction rules came into effect on 19 May 2025. ‘No grounds’ evictions are now unlawful. The landlord must have a valid legal reason with evidence, to evict you. This applies to all residential tenancy agreements – both fixed-term and periodic (ongoing) agreements. See our fully updated Factsheet: Eviction – landlord ends tenancy.

I would extrapolate from that, in the absence of a reason for not renewing a fixed-term lease, you would still have the opportunity to sign another lease at a higher rent, bearing in mind that you can only raise the rent once per year. You would still have to give the appropriate notice if you were planning not to renew and had a valid reason for doing so.

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RL

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[UberOwner]

My tenants’ lease expired four months ago.  I didn’t want to raise their rent at that time, but nor did I want to be locked into another year at that rent.  So I told the property manager that we would go month-by-month.  Property manager was not happy (she earns good money for preparing new leases) but ultimately she works for me and I was acting within the law.

My understanding is that I can raise the rent at any time now as it’s more than a year since the last rent increase.  I can’t evict the tenant without grounds, but if I have grounds I don’t have to wait until the lease expires because there is no fixed-term lease.  I still have to give the proper notice.

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[RL]

Thank you (again) Jimmy.

Just to be absolutely clear (at the risk of being irritating):

– Ending the lease DURING the fixed term is clearly breaking the lease and should require justification.

– Ending a month-to-month lease is also breaking the lease, because by definition it has no end date.

– But at the end of the fixed term, it seems reasonable to ask the tenant to either start another fixed term or vacate – both parties have received exactly what they agreed to up front.

The reason I prefer annual fixed terms (renewed annually, at the tenant’s sole discretion) is simply that the property is in a seasonal area and it’s much easier to find a tenant in summer than in winter.

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[UberOwner]

From the Legal Aid website:  “Your landlord can no longer give a ‘no grounds’ termination at the end of a fixed term agreement.”

So you can’t tell them to vacate at the end of a fixed term unless you meet one of the fairly-well published criteria (you are selling, you are moving in etc etc, I’m sure you’ve seen the list).

You telling them to vacate at the end of the fixed term is considered an “eviction” if they don’t want to go.  Refusal to sign a new fixed term is not a valid reason for that eviction.

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[RL]

Thanks UberOwner, that’s abundantly clear then. The Legal Aid page referred to above:
https://www.legalaid.nsw.gov.au/my-problem-is-about/my-housing/tenancy/eviction

Under “Valid reasons for your eviction”

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[Author]

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