New renters' rights fail to provide 'peace, privacy and comfort' for lodgers

The Advertiser

19-05-2025

NEW laws that strengthen renters' rights in NSW have left many people out in the cold.
For those who pay rent for a single room in a group house, or who live in a shared accommodation-style arrangement, the new laws do not apply.
They appear to be in no-man's land with hopes they will be given some protections when legislative changes to the laws governing boarding houses come into effect. However, there is no timeframe in which that will occur.
A decision handed down in the Supreme Court of Appeal has added weight to he notion that people regarded as boarders or lodgers, and who sign agreements as such, are not covered by the Residential Tenancies Act.
The matter of Shapkin versus the University of Sydney first came to court in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal in 2022.
The tribunal sided with the university, as did the Appeal Panel, which held a hearing in January 2023.
Mr Shapkin then sought leave to appeal from the Appeal Panel's decision, which was heard in December 2023, and he was granted leave to appeal on two out of three grounds.
That hearing took place on May 5, and reasons as to why leave to appeal was refused were handed down on May 16.
At each juncture, the courts have sided with the landlord by regarding Mr Shapkin as a lodger, even though his landlord, which can be a person or an entity, does not physically reside with him.
For an occupant to be a boarder or a lodger, the owner must remain in possession and retain his quality as "master of the house", with "control and dominion" over the hall, the decision says.
The coordinator of the Hunter Tenants Advice and Advocacy Service, Nicole Grgas, says the Shapkin decision is "really troubling".
SPL has come under fire for its treatment of occupants living in SPL-managed group homes, where they are said to conduct spot inspections on a regular basis, as often as every two days, without warning and without waiting to see if anyone is home, rifling through personal belongings.
The organisation has also been heavily criticised for evicting people and/or relocating them with little or no notice.
"If these were residential tenancy agreements, then you have a right to peace, comfort and privacy, and the landlord can only come with certain notice," Ms Grgas said.
"The tribunal has most recently found, and I don't know if I want to advertise it, that these are not tenancy agreements."
That means the increasing number of people paying rent per room will not be afforded the protections of the legislative changes, which came into effect on Monday.
While it is now easier for those renters to have pets in their homes, and feel more secure in the knowledge that 'no grounds' evictions are now unlawful, lodgers continue to live in fear of being evicted or relocated at a moment's notice.
Last week, several residents were forced to move from an SPL-managed property at Rutherford, to which police were called on Monday when SPL staff turned up unannounced, demanding access to the property to retrieve furniture.
The residents had been given less than one business day's notice that they were being relocated.
The week before that, on May 5, SPL moved 20 people out of homes in Elemore Vale. They were given five days' notice, but SPL staff turned up without notice with a removalist truck two days early, at 6am, the Newcastle Herald was told.
Mr Mason has denied any wrongdoing.
NEW laws that strengthen renters' rights in NSW have left many people out in the cold.
For those who pay rent for a single room in a group house, or who live in a shared accommodation-style arrangement, the new laws do not apply.
They appear to be in no-man's land with hopes they will be given some protections when legislative changes to the laws governing boarding houses come into effect. However, there is no timeframe in which that will occur.
A decision handed down in the Supreme Court of Appeal has added weight to he notion that people regarded as boarders or lodgers, and who sign agreements as such, are not covered by the Residential Tenancies Act.
The matter of Shapkin versus the University of Sydney first came to court in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal in 2022.
The tribunal sided with the university, as did the Appeal Panel, which held a hearing in January 2023.
Mr Shapkin then sought leave to appeal from the Appeal Panel's decision, which was heard in December 2023, and he was granted leave to appeal on two out of three grounds.
That hearing took place on May 5, and reasons as to why leave to appeal was refused were handed down on May 16.
At each juncture, the courts have sided with the landlord by regarding Mr Shapkin as a lodger, even though his landlord, which can be a person or an entity, does not physically reside with him.
For an occupant to be a boarder or a lodger, the owner must remain in possession and retain his quality as "master of the house", with "control and dominion" over the hall, the decision says.
The coordinator of the Hunter Tenants Advice and Advocacy Service, Nicole Grgas, says the Shapkin decision is "really troubling".
SPL has come under fire for its treatment of occupants living in SPL-managed group homes, where they are said to conduct spot inspections on a regular basis, as often as every two days, without warning and without waiting to see if anyone is home, rifling through personal belongings.
The organisation has also been heavily criticised for evicting people and/or relocating them with little or no notice.
"If these were residential tenancy agreements, then you have a right to peace, comfort and privacy, and the landlord can only come with certain notice," Ms Grgas said.
"The tribunal has most recently found, and I don't know if I want to advertise it, that these are not tenancy agreements."
That means the increasing number of people paying rent per room will not be afforded the protections of the legislative changes, which came into effect on Monday.
While it is now easier for those renters to have pets in their homes, and feel more secure in the knowledge that 'no grounds' evictions are now unlawful, lodgers continue to live in fear of being evicted or relocated at a moment's notice.
Last week, several residents were forced to move from an SPL-managed property at Rutherford, to which police were called on Monday when SPL staff turned up unannounced, demanding access to the property to retrieve furniture.
The residents had been given less than one business day's notice that they were being relocated.
The week before that, on May 5, SPL moved 20 people out of homes in Elemore Vale. They were given five days' notice, but SPL staff turned up without notice with a removalist truck two days early, at 6am, the Newcastle Herald was told.
Mr Mason has denied any wrongdoing.
NEW laws that strengthen renters' rights in NSW have left many people out in the cold.
For those who pay rent for a single room in a group house, or who live in a shared accommodation-style arrangement, the new laws do not apply.
They appear to be in no-man's land with hopes they will be given some protections when legislative changes to the laws governing boarding houses come into effect. However, there is no timeframe in which that will occur.
A decision handed down in the Supreme Court of Appeal has added weight to he notion that people regarded as boarders or lodgers, and who sign agreements as such, are not covered by the Residential Tenancies Act.
The matter of Shapkin versus the University of Sydney first came to court in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal in 2022.
The tribunal sided with the university, as did the Appeal Panel, which held a hearing in January 2023.
Mr Shapkin then sought leave to appeal from the Appeal Panel's decision, which was heard in December 2023, and he was granted leave to appeal on two out of three grounds.
That hearing took place on May 5, and reasons as to why leave to appeal was refused were handed down on May 16.
At each juncture, the courts have sided with the landlord by regarding Mr Shapkin as a lodger, even though his landlord, which can be a person or an entity, does not physically reside with him.
For an occupant to be a boarder or a lodger, the owner must remain in possession and retain his quality as "master of the house", with "control and dominion" over the hall, the decision says.
The coordinator of the Hunter Tenants Advice and Advocacy Service, Nicole Grgas, says the Shapkin decision is "really troubling".
SPL has come under fire for its treatment of occupants living in SPL-managed group homes, where they are said to conduct spot inspections on a regular basis, as often as every two days, without warning and without waiting to see if anyone is home, rifling through personal belongings.
The organisation has also been heavily criticised for evicting people and/or relocating them with little or no notice.
"If these were residential tenancy agreements, then you have a right to peace, comfort and privacy, and the landlord can only come with certain notice," Ms Grgas said.
"The tribunal has most recently found, and I don't know if I want to advertise it, that these are not tenancy agreements."
That means the increasing number of people paying rent per room will not be afforded the protections of the legislative changes, which came into effect on Monday.
While it is now easier for those renters to have pets in their homes, and feel more secure in the knowledge that 'no grounds' evictions are now unlawful, lodgers continue to live in fear of being evicted or relocated at a moment's notice.
Last week, several residents were forced to move from an SPL-managed property at Rutherford, to which police were called on Monday when SPL staff turned up unannounced, demanding access to the property to retrieve furniture.
The residents had been given less than one business day's notice that they were being relocated.
The week before that, on May 5, SPL moved 20 people out of homes in Elemore Vale. They were given five days' notice, but SPL staff turned up without notice with a removalist truck two days early, at 6am, the Newcastle Herald was told.
Mr Mason has denied any wrongdoing.
NEW laws that strengthen renters' rights in NSW have left many people out in the cold.
For those who pay rent for a single room in a group house, or who live in a shared accommodation-style arrangement, the new laws do not apply.
They appear to be in no-man's land with hopes they will be given some protections when legislative changes to the laws governing boarding houses come into effect. However, there is no timeframe in which that will occur.
A decision handed down in the Supreme Court of Appeal has added weight to he notion that people regarded as boarders or lodgers, and who sign agreements as such, are not covered by the Residential Tenancies Act.
The matter of Shapkin versus the University of Sydney first came to court in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal in 2022.
The tribunal sided with the university, as did the Appeal Panel, which held a hearing in January 2023.
Mr Shapkin then sought leave to appeal from the Appeal Panel's decision, which was heard in December 2023, and he was granted leave to appeal on two out of three grounds.
That hearing took place on May 5, and reasons as to why leave to appeal was refused were handed down on May 16.
At each juncture, the courts have sided with the landlord by regarding Mr Shapkin as a lodger, even though his landlord, which can be a person or an entity, does not physically reside with him.
For an occupant to be a boarder or a lodger, the owner must remain in possession and retain his quality as "master of the house", with "control and dominion" over the hall, the decision says.
The coordinator of the Hunter Tenants Advice and Advocacy Service, Nicole Grgas, says the Shapkin decision is "really troubling".
SPL has come under fire for its treatment of occupants living in SPL-managed group homes, where they are said to conduct spot inspections on a regular basis, as often as every two days, without warning and without waiting to see if anyone is home, rifling through personal belongings.
The organisation has also been heavily criticised for evicting people and/or relocating them with little or no notice.
"If these were residential tenancy agreements, then you have a right to peace, comfort and privacy, and the landlord can only come with certain notice," Ms Grgas said.
"The tribunal has most recently found, and I don't know if I want to advertise it, that these are not tenancy agreements."
That means the increasing number of people paying rent per room will not be afforded the protections of the legislative changes, which came into effect on Monday.
While it is now easier for those renters to have pets in their homes, and feel more secure in the knowledge that 'no grounds' evictions are now unlawful, lodgers continue to live in fear of being evicted or relocated at a moment's notice.
Last week, several residents were forced to move from an SPL-managed property at Rutherford, to which police were called on Monday when SPL staff turned up unannounced, demanding access to the property to retrieve furniture.
The residents had been given less than one business day's notice that they were being relocated.
The week before that, on May 5, SPL moved 20 people out of homes in Elemore Vale. They were given five days' notice, but SPL staff turned up without notice with a removalist truck two days early, at 6am, the Newcastle Herald was told.
Mr Mason has denied any wrongdoing.