End of Tenancy Survey 2 Aug 2021 - 30 June 2022
NSW tenancy laws say how residential tenancy agreements can be ended. Tenancies are usually terminated by the tenant, landlord, the landlord's agent, or by a NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal order.
Fair Trading conducts an end-of tenancy survey to collect data about how and why tenancies end. This survey was designed to help Fair Trading to better understand the renting experience to help inform future tenancy reforms. The current survey commenced on 2 August 2021.
The survey content and questions have been developed with reference to the laws about how tenancies can end under the NSW Residential Tenancies Act 2010 https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2010-042
The survey process
Every principal tenant and landlord or nominated agent is asked to complete a survey when a bond claim is finalised through an online bonds system. Survey invitations are sent by email and participation is voluntary. Individual responses are kept anonymous.
Fair Trading initially conducted a pilot survey in 2019/2020. Results from that survey informed the current ongoing end of tenancy survey.
The end of tenancy survey
The survey data is collected quarterly, and is available to download for use by the community, research, business and industry.
To mitigate re-identification risks, postcode information has been removed and response dates grouped into months.
It should be noted that the representativeness of the survey data is limited, including because:
- participation is voluntary
- the survey only includes respondents who used Rental Bonds Online to lodge and claim their rental bond, so the sample does not extend to all terminated tenancies
- no demographic information is collected
- some tenancies had duplicate responses
- domestic violence victims may also self-select out of completing such a survey, given their vulnerability and the difficult circumstances they may experience after ending a tenancy
Explanatory notes
Description of data and key terms
- All answered survey questions are provided.
- 'Recipient ID' is a randomly generated number that can match responses that relate to the same rental bond claim. It is not used as part of the online bond system, and has not been provided to any respondents. 'Null’ response indicates either that particular respondent did not answer the question or was not asked that question because of their answer to the previous survey question.
- Some responses to ‘What was the weekly rent at the end of the tenancy?’ appear to be incorrect, with respondents potentially providing the rent amount on a monthly rather than weekly basis.
- ‘Role’ indicates if the survey respondent was a managing agent, landlord or tenant
- ‘Month response received’ indicates the month that the survey response was received. Survey invitations are usually sent out within 10 days of a bond claim being finalised.
- The initial 2021 survey period (August-September) was reduced to two months. This is because the survey only commenced in August 2021.
- Duplicate responses (where more than one tenant, or both the tenant and the agent or landlord responded to the survey invitation) have not been removed from this dataset.
End of Tenancy possible pathways
- This document explains the design of the End of Tenancy Survey. There are a total of 62 possible pathways that a survey participant may travel through to complete the survey, shown in column A ‘Pathways’.
For further information about ending a tenancy: https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/housing-and-property/renting/ending-a-tenancy
For further information about the end of tenancy survey: https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/housing-and-property/end-of-tenancy-survey
Data Dictionary
| Column | Type | Label | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| RecipientID | text | ||
| What kind of agreement was the tenancy when it ended | text | At the time of ending the tenancy, was the tenancy a: a. Fixed-term agreement (e.g. a 3, 6 or 12-month agreement) b. Periodic agreement (a 'rolling lease' where the fixed-term has expired or no fixed term is set) |
|
| How did this tenancy end | text | How did this tenancy end? | a. Termination notice from the tenant, no Tribunal order made b. Termination notice from the landlord or agent, no Tribunal order made c. Termination by Tribunal order d. Tenant abandoned the property and no Tribunal order was made (note: abandonment happens where the tenant has moved out and stopped paying rent e. The landlord and tenant agreed to end the tenancy and no notice was served |
| How did the tenancy end by Tribunal order | text | How did the tenancy end by Tribunal order? (if 2c selected - Tribunal order) | a. Tenant applied to the Tribunal b. Landlord or agent applied to the Tribunal c. Mortgagee repossession orders were issued by the Supreme Court |
| Why did the tenancy end | text | Why did the tenancy end? (if 1a selected- fixed term agreement) | |
| Why did the tenancy end_2 | text | If termination notice from tenant (2a) | a. End of the fixed term agreement (e.g. terminated at the end of a 3, 6 or 12-month agreement) b. Tenant chose to relocate to different accommodation c. Breach of agreement by landlord d. Domestic violence e. Tenant accepted social housing accommodation f. The landlord notified the tenant of their intention to sell the property g. Rent increase during a long-term fixed agreement of 2 years or more h. Other (e.g. termination by cotenant of own tenancy, the tenant accepted a place in an aged care facility, the landlord failed to make a required disclosure to the tenant before the tenancy agreement was signed) |
| Why did the tenancy end_3 | text | If termination notice from the landlord or agent (2b) | a. End of the fixed term agreement b. Landlord signed a contract to sell the property c. Breach of agreement by tenant – the rent was not paid on time d. Breach of agreement by tenant – other reason e. Other (e.g. the premises have been destroyed, are uninhabitable or unusable) |
| Why did the tenancy end_4 | text | If termination by tribunal order – tenant applied (3a) | a. End of the fixed term agreement b. Breach of agreement by landlord c. Hardship to the tenant d. Co-tenant ended own tenancy e. Order for end of co-tenancy due to domestic violence f. Other (e.g. the property has been destroyed, is uninhabitable or unusable, the landlord failed to make a required disclosure to the tenant before the tenancy agreement was signed) |
| Why did the tenancy end_5 | text | If termination by tribunal orderlandlord or agent applied (3b) | a. End of the fixed term agreement (e.g. terminated at the end of a 3, 6 or 12-month agreement) b. Landlord signed a contract to sell the property c. Breach of the tenancy agreement by tenant – the rent was not paid on time d. Breach of agreement by tenant – other reason e. Hardship to the landlord f. Tenant abandoned the premises (note: abandonment happens where the tenant has moved out and stopped paying rent without valid notice) g. End of long term tenancy h. Other (e.g. serious damage or injury by tenant or occupant, use of property for illegal purposes, threat, abuse, intimidation or harassment by the tenant or occupant, property has been destroyed, is uninhabitable or unusable) |
| Why did the tenancy end_6 | text | If termination notice from tenant (2a) | a. End of the periodic agreement b. Tenant chose to relocate to different accommodation c. Breach of agreement by landlord d. Domestic violence e. Tenant accepted social housing accommodation f. The landlord notified the tenant of their intention to sell the property g. Other (e.g. termination by cotenant of own tenancy, the tenant accepted a place in an aged care facility, the landlord failed to make a required disclosure to the tenant before the tenancy agreement was signed) |
| Why did the tenancy end_7 | text | If termination notice from the landlord or agent (2b) | a. End of the periodic agreement b. Landlord signed a contract to sell the property c. Breach of agreement by tenant – the rent was not paid on time d. Breach of agreement by tenant – other reason e. Other (e.g. the property has been destroyed, is uninhabitable or unusable) |
| Why did the tenancy end_8 | text | If termination by tribunal order – tenant applied (3a) | a. End of the periodic agreement b. Breach of agreement by landlord c. Co-tenant ended own tenancy d. Order for end of co-tenancy due to domestic violence e. Other (e.g. the property has been destroyed, is uninhabitable or unusable, the landlord failed to make a required disclosure to the tenant before the tenancy agreement was signed) |
| Why did the tenancy end_9 | text | If termination by tribunal orderlandlord or agent applied (3b) | a. End of the periodic agreement b. Landlord signed a contract to sell the property c. Breach of agreement by tenant – the rent was not paid on time d. Breach of agreement by tenant – other reason e. Hardship to the landlord f. Tenant abandoned the premises (note: abandonment happens where the tenant has moved out and stopped paying rent without valid notice) g. End of long term tenancy h. Other (e.g. serious damage or injury by tenant or occupant, use of property for illegal purposes, threat, abuse, intimidation or harassment by the tenant or occupant, property has been destroyed, is uninhabitable or unusable) |
| What evidence was used for the domestic violence notice | text | What evidence was used for the domestic violence notice? (if 4d selected – termination due to domestic violence) | a. Domestic Violence Order b. Family Law injunction c. Certificate of conviction d. Declaration from an authorised person (such as a medical or other health practitioner, or a person registered with the Australian Association of Social Workers) |
| What was the rent amount at the end of the tenancy | text | What was the rent amount at the end of the tenancy? | Free text answer - numeric only |
| Was the rent amount entered in the previous question paid | text | Was the rent amount entered in the previous questions paid? | a. Weekly b. Fortnightly c. Monthly |
| Did the tenancy end due to COVID-19 | text | Did the tenancy come to an end because the tenant or landlord was impact by COVID-19? | a. Yes b. No |
| What was the rent amount at the end of the tenancy_2 | text | What was the rent amount at the end of the tenancy? | Free text answer - numeric only |
| Was the rent amount entered in the previous question paid_2 | text | What was the rent amount at the end of the tenancy? | a. Weekly b. Fortnightly c. Monthly |
| Did the tenancy end due to COVID-19_2 | text | Did the tenancy come to an end because the tenant or landlord was impact by COVID-19? | a. Yes b. No |
| What was the rent amount at the end of the tenancy_3 | text | What was the rent amount at the end of the tenancy? | Free text answer - numeric only |
| Was the rent amount entered in the previous question paid_3 | text | Was the rent amount entered in the previous questions paid? | a. Weekly b. Fortnightly c. Monthly |
| Did the tenancy end due to COVID-19_3 | text | Did the tenancy come to an end because the tenant or landlord was impact by COVID-19? | a. Yes b. No |
| Role | text | Role | Tenant Managing Agent Landlord |
| Timestamp | text |
Additional Information
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Data last updated | 29 September 2022 |
| Metadata last updated | 29 November 2022 |
| Created | unknown |
| Format | CSV |
| License | Creative Commons Attribution |
| Created | 2 years ago |
| Media type | text/csv |
| Size | 15,652,584 |
| Datastore active | True |
| Datastore contains all records of source file | False |
| Has views | True |
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| Id | 25fcb641-6730-49e4-b833-62c523c353a0 |
| Package id | c3140df4-50a5-453c-9022-a625853d1519 |
| Position | 1 |
| State | active |
| Url type | upload |