As the impacts of COVID-19 began ramping up around March / April 2020, the NSW Government announced temporary measures to restrict when landlords can evict tenants due to rental arrears as a result of COVID-19. In addition, the Government increase the notice period for certain other cases for termination to 90 days.

​These restrictions were originally due to end on 15 October 2020. They have now been extended until 26 March 2021.

We are often asked what happens when a tenant's fixed term lease period ends. In this post, we specifically address a number of questions relating to what happens to the tenancy agreement at the end of the fixed term (rather than discussing the rights and responsibilities of a tenant choosing to leave at the end of the lease). 

Below, we will cover the following questions related to this topic:

• Does the tenant need to move out at the end of the fixed term lease?
• Does the tenant need to sign a new lease in order to stay in the property?
• What happens if a tenant stays on in the property without a new lease?

It has been a long and difficult wait for landlords, tenants and real estate businesses alike over the past weeks as the economy has deteriorated significantly and many Government assistance measures have been announced. 

Until recently, there had been next to no mention of how landlords, tenants, and real estate agencies should navigate this challenging time. Finally, clarity has been delivered via a media release from the NSW Government on Easter Monday 13th April.

Among many residential tenancy law changes being introduced from 23 March 2020 in NSW, there are changes to mandatory break fees i.e. the compensation the tenant agrees to pay if they move out before the end of a fixed term lease agreement.

As detailed in our post "What Are The Changes To Residential Tenancy Laws In NSW Which Start on 23 March 2020?", there are significant changes to NSW residential tenancy laws which come into effect from 23 March 2020.

One such change is that tenants will have improved clarity around their ability to make alterations, additions or renovations during their tenancy. 

After significant development, which we first wrote about back in November 2018, NSW Fair Trading has now announced changes to NSW residential tenancy laws which will commence from 23 March 2020.

The changes have been developed primarily to improve the experience of tenants when renting, and to ensure landlords can more effectively manage their properties. The updates aim to reduce disputes over repairs and maintenance and clarify the rights and responsibilities of both landlords and tenants. 

Each of the changes are covered below, including new smoke alarm obligations, allowance for tenants to make changes of a minor nature, changes to break fees and more as sourced from information published on the NSW Fair Trading website. The changes are effective from 23 March 2020. 

​We have written previously about the benefits for a landlord of having a tenant on a fixed term lease rather than a rolling or periodic arrangement. Several of the main advantages include:

• Security and stability of income
• Improved cash flow management
• Insurance benefits

As a landlord who has engaged a real estate agent to manage your rental property, you would expect that the property manager would monitor the lease terms for each property and begin certain processes when ever a lease was approaching expiry. ​Unfortunately this is not always the case.