The banning of rental bidding was posed to be a game changer for those who have been pushed out of the rental market and forced into homelessness, forfeiting meals and medicine, or seeking friends and family to live with.

It still could help but some fear that the rule change won’t be enough to beat the power that comes with such a strong market demand. 

On 17 December, it officially became an offence to offer higher bids on rental properties in NSW, which has become an issue that forces those with lower incomes out of markets that they could otherwise afford. 



While rental bidding has become a side effect of the ongoing housing crisis, Western Program Manager of Barnardo’s Australia Shiree Talbert is concerned that landlords may offset any relief. 

“It’s difficult to say whether there will be a response from landlords who might set a higher price to begin with, knowing full well that the scarcity of rental properties across the region is a key driver for higher rental prices,” Ms Talbert said. 

Even before rental bidding, Ms Talbert said that a house that might have been rented out for $380 years ago would now start at $450 this year, pricing out a once affordable house, despite no physical improvements being done. 

“There’s not a lot of those ‘in between’ properties available which are safe and affordable for people versus those ones that are a little more expensive,” Ms Talbert said. 

The impact is predictably widespread, setting off a chain of devastating outcomes for those who can’t secure housing. 

“Without housing it’s very difficult for anyone to be able to think about doing anything beyond surviving,” Ms Talbert said. 

For some, it means having to part ways with their own children. 

“For women who are coming out of custody and on the search for a rental property with the view of having children come back into their care after a period of incarceration without a home…the chance of children coming back into the care of their mother or their parents is highly unlikely without housing,” she said. 

The new rules will also mean that rentals will require a price on their advertisements, which must be fixed and without a price range or ‘by negotiation. 

Greens spokesperson for Housing and Renters Jenny Leong MP said that despite supporting the ban, there is a lot to be done to create an even playing field. 

“We reiterate our call to end unfair no grounds evictions in NSW - something we know a lot of people are facing right before Christmas,” Ms Leong said. 

“We also have been calling on the Government to respond appropriately to the rental crisis by immediately freezing rents, as an immediate measure that could have a tangible positive impact for renters right across NSW,” she said. 

A bill introduced to NSW Parliament to ban no ground evictions was blocked by the Liberal and Labor parties.