Can my landlord evict me without a reason in NSW (no-grounds ban)?

No — since 19 May 2025, NSW landlords cannot end your tenancy without a specific legal reason.

The days of “no-grounds” evictions are over in NSW. Before that date, a landlord could send you a 90-day notice to leave a periodic tenancy with no explanation at all. They could also end a fixed-term lease with just 30 days’ notice at the end of the term, again with no reason required. Both of those options are now gone.

If you received a termination notice before 19 May 2025, the old rules still apply to that notice. If you received one on or after that date, your landlord must have a valid legal ground — and must tell you what it is.

What changed on 19 May 2025

The Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2024 made no-grounds terminations unlawful in NSW. The changes apply to both new and existing tenancy agreements.

Under the old law, landlords could end a periodic tenancy with a 90-day no-grounds notice, or end a fixed-term tenancy at expiry with a 30-day no-grounds notice. Those provisions were repealed.

Now, every termination notice must state a ground from the closed list set out in the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 (the RTA). Under section 85 of the Act and clause 23A of the Residential Tenancies Regulation 2019, the notice must also include a Termination Information Statement, which explains the ground, your right to challenge the notice, and the evidence the landlord has provided.

Providing false information in a termination notice, or giving a notice on a ground that is not genuine, are both offences (s85(2) and s86).

The grounds a landlord can still use

The RTA now contains a closed list of grounds. Some are pursued by giving you a termination notice; a few (like landlord hardship) go directly to NCAT. Here are the main ones with their notice periods.

Property sale and occupation

• Actual sale of property (s87D) — the landlord has signed a contract for sale that requires vacant possession. Notice: 30 days.
• Proposed sale (s87E) — the landlord intends to sell and requires the property vacant. Notice: 60 days (fixed-term of 6 months or less) or 90 days (fixed-term over 6 months, or periodic).
• Landlord or family member moving in (s87M) — the landlord or a specified family member intends to live there for at least 6 months. Notice: 60 days (fixed-term ≤6 months) or 90 days (fixed-term >6 months or periodic).

Significant works and demolition

• Significant renovations or repairs (s87F) — the work is substantial and the property must be vacant to be done properly. Works must be planned within 2 months of the termination date. Notice: 60 days (fixed-term ≤6 months) or 90 days (fixed-term >6 months or periodic).
• Demolition (s87G) — the property is being demolished within 2 months of the termination date. Notice: 60 days (fixed-term ≤6 months) or 90 days (fixed-term >6 months or periodic).

Change of use

• Change of use (s87L) — the landlord intends the property to not be used as rented residential premises for at least 12 months (for example, a non-residential use or occupation by someone other than a tenant). Notice: 60 days (fixed-term ≤6 months) or 90 days (fixed-term >6 months or periodic).

Tenant breach

• Breach of agreement (s87C) — including damage or other serious breach. Notice: 14 days.
• Non-payment of rent (s88) — rent must be at least 14 days in arrears before a notice can be given. Notice: 14 days.

Specialist housing ineligibility

• Affordable housing (s87H), transitional housing (s87I), key worker housing (s87J), student accommodation (s87K) — the tenant no longer meets the eligibility criteria for that housing program. Notice: 60 or 90 days depending on tenancy type.
• Certain social-housing “alternative premises” grounds carry a 30-day notice (s150).

Property no longer available

• Property unusable (s109) — fire, flood, compulsory acquisition, or the property has become wholly or partly uninhabitable through no one’s fault. Notice can end the tenancy on the day it is given.
• Landlord hardship (s93) — applied for directly through NCAT, without a standard notice. The Tribunal decides whether to grant termination.

For a fixed-term tenancy, the termination date must fall on or after the last day of the agreement, unless the ground is one that specifically permits early termination (such as breach, property unusable, or death of tenant under s108).

What evidence the landlord must provide

The law now requires landlords to attach supporting evidence to the termination notice for most grounds. The requirements are set out in Part 5A of the Residential Tenancies Regulation 2019 (clauses 23A–23L). Providing false documentation is an offence under s85(2).

The requirements vary by ground:

• Actual sale (cl 23B) — a copy of the signed contract for sale, or a written statement from a solicitor or conveyancer confirming the sale and that vacant possession is required.
• Proposed sale (cl 23C) — a copy of the proposed contract or the agency agreement with the selling agent.
• Significant renovations (cl 23D) — a signed written statement from the landlord explaining why the renovations are significant, why the property must be vacant, and when the work is planned to start. Note: compared with the demolition ground (cl 23E, which requires a copy of the demolition contract and any required development consent) and the change-of-use ground (cl 23H, which requires an ABN, development consent, licence number, or STRA listing), the renovation ground is documented very lightly — the landlord need only provide their own signed statement. Tenant advocates have argued this asymmetry creates a “renoviction” risk, because a landlord’s signed statement is easy to produce and the offence for a non-genuine ground under s86 only bites after the fact.
• Demolition (cl 23E) — a signed statement from the landlord confirming demolition within 2 months, a copy of the demolition contract, and any development consent or control order.
• Landlord or family moving in (cl 23I) — a signed statement from the landlord naming the person, their relationship to the landlord, and confirming at least 6 months’ intended occupancy. If a family member is moving in, that person must also provide their own signed statement.
• Change of use (cl 23H) — a signed statement specifying the new use, confirming the property will not be used as rented residential premises for at least 12 months, plus an ABN, development consent, or business licence if applicable, and STRA registration if the property is becoming a short-term rental.

The Termination Information Statement that must accompany every notice also tells you your right to challenge the notice at NCAT, and how to do it.

What if the landlord’s stated ground is fake or retaliatory?

If a landlord gives you a termination notice, but the real reason is to punish you for exercising your rights — for example, you asked for repairs or disputed a rent increase — that is called a retaliatory eviction.

Under section 115 of the RTA, you can apply to NCAT to have the notice declared to have no effect. The Tribunal looks at whether the landlord’s motive was to punish you for enforcing your rights, applying to the Tribunal, or an existing Tribunal order.

Separately, under section 111, if a landlord tries to enforce a defective notice or one where the stated ground was not genuine, the Tribunal must refuse to make a termination order.

The application windows are different depending on which route you take:

• Retaliatory eviction claim (s115): you must apply within a prescribed window after the notice is given — 30 days for the longer-notice grounds (proposed sale, significant renovations, demolition, change of use, landlord or family moving in, affordable housing, transitional housing, key worker housing, student accommodation), and 14 days for other grounds (including actual sale). You must also apply before the termination date.
• Defective-notice or not-genuine-ground dispute (s111): you generally have up to 3 months after the termination date to apply, though you should act well before then.

If you have recently requested repairs or taken action about your tenancy — and then received a termination notice — gather your communications, repair requests, and any documentation of the sequence of events. That evidence matters. See what counts as an urgent repair in a NSW rental for context on what repair-related rights trigger this protection.

Separately, under s114 the Tribunal may suspend a possession order and, when deciding, will consider the relative hardship to both you and the landlord — this is not a s115 test, but it matters if the case gets to the possession-order stage.

The data trail — landlords must report termination grounds

There is a data-trail mechanism worth knowing about. Under s222A of the Act, NSW Fair Trading is required to collect data on the grounds landlords use for termination notices and to publish an annual summary. This is operationalised by clause 23L of the Regulation, which requires landlords (or their agents) to tell the Secretary whether a termination notice was given, who gave it, the ground the landlord relied on, and the type of supporting documents provided — either when they make a bond claim under s163, or within 14 days of being notified of a tenant-initiated bond claim under s164(2). Failing to report attracts a maximum penalty of 10 penalty units.

Separately, giving a termination notice on a ground that is not genuine is an offence under s86 (max 100 penalty units for an individual, 650 for a corporation), and giving false or misleading supporting documents is an offence under s85(2) at the same level.

What to do if you get a termination notice

Step 1 — Check the ground. The notice must state a specific reason from the list above. If it states no ground, or a reason that does not appear in the Act, the notice may be invalid.

Step 2 — Check the notice period. Compare the notice period given against the grounds above. A notice that gives less than the required time may also be invalid.

Step 3 — Check the evidence. If your ground is one that requires supporting documents — sale, renovations, demolition, change of use, or landlord moving in — those documents must be attached. A notice missing required documentation is defective.

Step 4 — Consider whether it is retaliatory. Think about whether you have recently requested repairs, complained to NSW Fair Trading, or disputed a rent increase. Timing matters. If it fits, act quickly — s115 applications have a short window (14 or 30 days from the notice being given).

Step 5 — Apply to NCAT if the notice is defective or retaliatory. Use s115 for retaliatory-eviction claims (14 or 30 days from notice, and before the termination date), or s111 for defective notices and not-genuine grounds (up to 3 months after termination date, but earlier is better). If you are also thinking about ending the tenancy yourself, see how to break your lease early in NSW, as the two processes interact.

Step 6 — Do not just leave. A termination notice does not by itself end your tenancy. The tenancy only ends when you hand back vacant possession, or NCAT makes a termination order. If you move out because you assumed the notice was valid, you accept the termination and lose your ability to challenge it. To dispute the notice, you must remain in the property and apply to NCAT.

The reform was designed to be enforced. If the landlord’s stated ground is not genuine, or the paperwork does not stack up, you have real leverage. NCAT can void the notice entirely. A landlord who gives notice on false grounds or false documents commits an offence and risks the termination order being refused.

Not sure if your termination notice is valid?

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