As the shadow of housing stress and homelessness stretches across NSW, the Law Society of NSW has welcomed commitments by parties and candidates responding to its 2o23 NSW Election Platform to end 'no-grounds' evictions from residential properties.
President of the Law Society of NSW Cassandra Banks says that in the current climate, there are good reasons to review the existing right of a landlord to end a lease at any time for no reason with 90 days' notice and 30 days' notice at the end of a lease, to prevent evictions on unreasonable grounds, particularly in relation to groups vulnerable to discrimination.
"There is a clear link between the lack of security in the private rental market and homelessness. At a time when the number of homeless people continues to increase, preventing unreasonable evictions will provide some security to renters already under considerable housing stress," Ms Banks said.
"These groups include older people, those living with a disability, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and people experiencing family or domestic violence."
The Law Society's call to the next NSW Government to consider reforming the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 to prevent evictions on unreasonable grounds, is one element of the Platform. The Coalition Government, Labor Opposition and Greens NSW have provided their responses. Alex Greenwich MP was the only other serving independent candidate or crossbencher to respond.
Ms Banks said that in addition to preventing unreasonable evictions, the next NSW Government should make an early commitment to fund specialist legal services that are focused on financial hardship and homelessness.
"The option to downsize or move isn't available to people who already find it difficult to pay rent every month, especially in a tight markets like Sydney and larger regional centres. Those providing free or low-cost legal assistance, so clients can maintain tenancies and avoid homelessness, need to be able to continue their crucial work," Ms Banks said.
"While the Law Society commends the parties competing for government in Saturday's election for committing to prevent unreasonable evictions, those struggling most to house themselves and their families need the reassurance that they can find legal help when they need it most."
Regardless of the outcome on Saturday, the Law Society will remain a trusted voice for government and the community, providing the expertise of the 400 or so expert lawyers who serve on our policy and segment committees to provide robust and independent input on reform proposals and issues of public importance.
