New NSW Pet Rental Laws from 2 October 2026: What Property Managers Need to Do

The NSW pet rules changed on 2 October 2026. A tenant starting a new lease can now apply for pet consent within 7 days of entering into it, and keep the pet at the property while the landlord decides. NSW Fair Trading emailed licensees about it on 9 October, along with three updated forms it wants agencies to start using.

The change sits in a law with an unlikely name: the Residential Tenancies Amendment (Protection of Personal Information) Act 2026. Most of that Act is about renters’ privacy and isn’t expected to start until early 2027. It’s the bigger job, so I’ve covered it further down, along with a new end-of-tenancy rent statement that lands squarely in the trust account.

The short version

• Since 2 October 2026, a tenant who applies within 7 days of entering into a new NSW lease can keep their pet while the landlord decides.
• The landlord still has 21 days to respond in writing and can still only refuse for the listed reasons. No response in time means the pet is approved, with no conditions.
• After a refusal the pet can stay another 21 days, or longer if the tenant applies to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) within those 21 days.
• Replace the landlord information statement, the tenant information statement and the pet application form. The new files are dated 8 October 2026.
• The rest of the Act starts on dates still to be set, expected from early 2027. It brings privacy rules for rental applications and a rent statement for every outgoing tenant.

How pet applications worked until now

The big pet reform started on 19 May 2025. Under those rules a tenant needs the landlord’s consent to keep a pet, unless it’s an assistance animal. They apply on the standard form and the landlord has 21 days to reply. If the landlord says nothing, the pet is approved with no conditions. Refusals are limited to a short list of reasons, and a landlord can’t ask for a higher bond, more rent or insurance in return for a yes.

The catch was timing. The form had to be given before the pet moved in. A tenant moving house with a dog could apply before signing and hope for a quick answer, or bring the dog anyway and start the tenancy in breach. The new rule fills that gap.

What changed on 2 October 2026

The new rule applies when a tenant enters into a tenancy agreement and moves in with a pet. If they apply for consent within 7 days after entering into the agreement, they can keep the pet at the property until the landlord gives them a written response.

Here’s how the timeframes fit together:

Two details are easy to miss. The 7 days run from entering into the agreement, which is usually the day it’s signed, not the day the tenant gets the keys. On a lease signed a fortnight before it starts, the window can close before the tenant moves in.

The other is the Tribunal window. A tenant still has 28 days to take a refusal to NCAT, but the pet only gets to stay if they apply within the first 21.

A tenant who misses the 7 days is back under the old rule. They need consent before the pet moves in. Tenants can also still apply before they sign. If an applicant mentions a pet at that stage, my advice is to get the owner’s answer on the form before the lease is signed. Then nobody has to rely on the 7-day rule.

What it means for your owners

For owners, this is mostly a change in timing. They’ll now often hear about a pet after the tenant has moved in, not before. The reasons they can say no haven’t changed. A landlord can only refuse if:

• there would be an unreasonable number of animals (four or fewer is treated as reasonable)
• the fencing isn’t suitable for the animal, and that’s not because the landlord hasn’t kept it in repair
• there isn’t enough open space for the animal to go to the toilet or exercise
• the animal can’t be kept humanely at the property
• the animal is highly likely to cause damage costing more than the bond
• keeping it would breach a council rule, a valid strata or community by-law, or another law (a by-law banning all pets isn’t valid)
• the landlord lives at the property
• the tenant won’t agree to reasonable conditions.

Talk to your owners now, especially the ones who’ve always said no. A pet application in the first week of a new lease shouldn’t be the first they hear of the new rule.

Then get their instructions inside the 21 days. If the response goes out late, the pet is approved with no conditions at all. That means no condition requiring a professional carpet clean or fumigation at the end of the tenancy, however reasonable it would have been. I’d diarise every pet application the day it arrives and aim to have the owner’s answer within a fortnight.

The three forms to replace

Fair Trading has asked agencies to replace these with the updated versions on its website:

• Landlord information statement
• Tenant information statement
• Form to apply to keep a pet in a rental property (the email calls it the Pet Application and Response Form)

All three files show a last-updated date of 8 October 2026. If you swapped in new information statements for the domestic violence reforms on 21 September, they’ve changed again since.

The two statements are tied to signing. The tenant must be given the tenant information statement before they sign. The landlord, or their agent, signs an acknowledgement in the tenancy agreement that they’ve read and understood the landlord information statement. So check everywhere a lease pack gets put together: your forms provider, the document templates in PropertyMe or Property Tree, and any email that attaches the statements automatically.

Where the trust account comes in

Pets look like a leasing issue, and mostly they are. But a few pieces end up in the trust account.

No pet bond and no pet rent. This isn’t new, but it’s worth checking while you’re updating forms. A landlord can’t ask for a higher bond, more rent or any other security as a condition of consent. If your software has a pet bond or pet rent set up on any NSW tenancy, take it off. Money that shouldn’t have been collected has to go back, and it’s easier never to receipt it.

The landlord’s response is bond-claim evidence. Conditions like a professional carpet clean or fumigation only bind the tenant if they’re listed in the landlord’s written response. When the tenant vacates, that form is what supports a claim on the bond for those costs. Consent also lasts for the life of the pet, even if the landlord, the agent or the agreement changes. So the signed form needs to sit on the tenancy record, where whoever handles the bond claim can find it years from now.

A rent statement for every outgoing tenant, from 2027. This one isn’t in force yet, but it’s the change I’d start preparing for. Once that part of the Act commences, the landlord or agent must give each tenant a written statement of the rent record for the whole tenancy when it ends. It’s due within 7 days of termination unless the regulations set a different period. The maximum penalty is 200 penalty units, or $22,000, for a corporation. The Act also puts penalties on the existing rent record rules.

In practice, that statement is the tenant ledger. Every part payment, adjustment and paid-to date will be on a document the tenant takes away with them. If your ledgers need a tidy-up first, our piece on paid-to dates, part payments and rent cycles is a good place to start.

The privacy changes due in 2027

Most of the Act is about renters’ personal information. Fair Trading expects it to start in early 2027, and much of the detail will sit in regulations that are still being consulted on. The outline so far:

• The Australian Privacy Principles will apply to every landlord and agent handling tenants’ personal information, whatever the size of the business. That includes private landlords. The maximum penalty for breaching one is 450 penalty units, or $49,500, for a corporation.
• One approved application form. Rental applications can only be taken on it, and not before the person has inspected the property unless they say in writing they can’t or don’t want to.
• ID only from the chosen applicant. Identity documents can only be collected once the landlord intends to sign with that tenant and has told them so in writing.
• Information collected in breach can’t be used. It has to be destroyed within 2 business days of finding out.
• More disclosure in ads. Listings will need to state an embedded network for power, gas, hot water or internet, and a landlord who lives at the property. The same goes for any law, council order or by-law that stops pets being kept. If NCAT has previously let the landlord refuse a type of animal, the ad has to say so. AI-generated or digitally altered images that could mislead must be flagged as well.
• Outsourced help is covered too. The rules reach anyone you employ or engage to handle tenant information for you, including application platforms.

Fair Trading says it will publish guidance before these start. There’s not much point rebuilding your application process until the approved form and the regulations are out. It’s worth knowing now where tenant information sits in your agency, across portals, inboxes and shared drives, and how long you keep it.

A checklist for this week

• Swap the three updated forms into your lease pack, forms provider and software templates.
• Brief property managers and leasing staff on the 7-day window and the 21-day timeframes.
• Diarise every pet application on the day it arrives, with its 21-day response date.
• Tell owners about the change before a pet application lands.
• File the signed pet form on the tenancy record, where a future bond claim will need it.
• Check that no NSW tenancy has a pet bond or pet rent set up.

Need a hand?

Most of this is leasing process, and it’s manageable once the forms and the diary are right. The parts that touch the money, the bond claims now and the rent statements from 2027, both come down to clean ledgers. That’s our day job. Our trust accounting service keeps NSW agencies’ ledgers and bond records in order, and the NSW trust accounting page covers the bond lodgement and audit rules. If you’d like help getting ready, get in touch.

Sources: NSW Fair Trading email to licensees “Important update to pet rental laws and tenancy forms” (9 October 2026). Keeping a pet in a rental property (NSW Government, updated 8 October 2026). Residential Tenancies Amendment (Protection of Personal Information) Bill 2025 (Parliament of NSW, assented 2 October 2026 as Act No 38 of 2026). Minns Labor Government delivers NSW renters landmark protections against privacy breaches and misleading rental ads (NSW Government, 25 September 2026). Penalties are converted at the NSW penalty unit value of $110. Dates current as at October 2026. This article is general information for agencies, not legal advice.