Sydney's rental market doesn't seem to be accommodating for pets. According to Domain, the current tenancy agreements clause 43 allows NSW landlords to ban pets on the residential property without obtaining the landlord's consent. A woman by the name of Penelope Bergen recalls how she and her dog had a hard time looking for a place to stay in Sydney after leaving her partner. She says that Sydney's rental market is "unkind" towards tenants who have pets like her.
A survey from HomeStart Finance reportedly has discovered that 25 per cent of renters feel most annoyed with the ban on pets by landlords. Furthermore, policy officer Ned Cutcher at the TUNSW said that the ban on having pets is a "common complaint" and one of the reasons why pets are surrendered.
With this the Tenants Union of NSW (TUNSW) is appealing for the tenancy laws to ban clauses in lease agreements that prohibit tenants from keeping pets. This appeal is part of their submission to Fair Trading NSW's tenancy review discussion paper, according to Domain. The submission has also mentioned that tenants, like Penelope, often complained about how difficult it was to find a landlord who would allow pets.
The submission stated, "But tenants, like anyone, are perfectly capable of keeping pets sensibly and responsibly. A prohibition against 'no pets' terms in residential tenancy agreements is long overdue."
According to Domain, the TUNSW submission suggested that a tenant would still be responsible to pay for any issues as a result of keeping a pet and must commit to keep the premises clean and keep the pet from causing trouble. In the current tenancy agreement, clause 45 states that a tenant who has been given permission to keep pets must settle to have the carpet and the premises professionally cleaned or fumigated if necessary. The review of the tenancy laws is expected to be reported before the Parliament in the middle of 2016.
