Abstract:
The Residential Tenancies Act 1987 was introduced to fill the void of regulation of
residential tenancies in NSW that was not covered under the Landlord and Tenant Act
1899. Twenty years after the introduction of the 1987 Act and after a number of
amendments to this act, the Minister for Fair Trading has called for submissions for a
substantial review of this Act, which closed on 31 August 2005.
The purpose of this paper is to determine whether the Residential Tenancies Act 1987 has
served its purpose and kept pace with the changing nature of the residential tenancies in
NSW, from the perspective of managing agents and to consider the consequences of
changes to tenancy tenure. A survey of residential property managers has been conducted
to establish the strengths and weaknesses of the present Act in addressing residential
tenancy matters from a landlord perspective and to monitor views on the options raised
under the Residential Tenancies Law Reform - Options Paper 2005.
The findings from the survey indicate that the Residential Tenancies Act 1987 is in need
of a balanced revision that addresses both needs of the lessee and lessor.
