Submission to Legislative Assembly Select Committee on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (Prohibiting No Grounds Evictions) Bill 2024
25 June 2024
PWDA welcomed the opportunity to provide feedback on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (Prohibiting No Grounds Evictions) Bill 2024 (the Bill).
People with disability experience discrimination and poorer life outcomes across all life
domains when compared with those without disability. For example, people with
disability are at greater risk of becoming homeless as they receive lower incomes and
have less engagement with the private housing market when compared with those
without disability.
There is an acute need in NSW for an increase in the supply of affordable housing
that is constructed to comply with accessibility standards. This is why PWDA is
advocating for the NSW government, through our Building Better Homes campaign, to sign onto the livability standards within the National Construction Code, to deliver more
accessible homes to those who need it.
We note that the NDIS does not include rental support in the private market, and the NDIS itself does not provide housing except for the extremely limited number of people with disability eligible for Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA).
Uncertainty about eviction creates significant psychological and emotional harm
amongst renters. People with disability are especially vulnerable to exploitation and
require a high degree of stability in their housing.
We agree with the Tenants’ Union of NSW that ‘reasonable grounds for termination should
be based on the principle that a tenancy terminated for ‘no fault’ should only occur where
the landlord genuinely no longer intends to rent the property in the private rental market.’
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