Unity Jackson-Muir, Real estate reporter
First published 22 Oct 2026, 12:00am
A Sydney MP claims renters could have saved almost $7,500 if there were rent caps from 2023. Picture: Max Mason-Hubers
A NSW MP claims Sydney renters could have saved almost $7,500 if rent caps had been introduced in 2023 and has tabled a new bill calling for a cap and temporary freeze.
Polling from The Australia Institute last week revealed that four in five Aussies across the political spectrum support rent freezes or caps .
It follows the latest quarterly data showing the median Sydney rental is $800 a week and costs renters $2,600 more this year compared to last.
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Greens MP Jenny Leong is introducing a Rent Control Bill to NSW parliament. Picture: Brendan Read
Newton Member Jenny Leong will introduce the proposed legislation on Thursday and aims to curb the rental crisis using the key measures of rent caps and a temporary price freeze.
“The stress on renters is unbearable and without urgent action this will only get worse,” Ms Leong said as the Greens’ Housing and Homelessness spokesperson.
“It is totally unacceptable that millions of renters are subjected to the stress of unlimited rent increases while the Government fails to act,” she said.
Rent caps have been successfully rolled out in the ACT where they have been credited for the lowest annual rental growth in the country at 2.4 per cent compared to 6.7 per cent in Sydney.
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Renters in the Penrith local government area (LGA) would only be paying $531 per week if rental increases were capped at 2 per cent in 2023. Source: Legislative Assembly Briefing
The Greens claim in a legislative assembly briefing that a 2 per cent cap could have saved Sydney tenants $7,479 between 2023 and now.
They used government data reports to track median rent increases by local government area (LGA) and showed that weekly rents in the Sydney LGA would have been $752 instead of $900.
The data show Penrith renters would have been one of the biggest beneficiaries of rent caps and would have seen prices increase by only $31 to hit $531 a week. The current median is $850 per week.
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Renters in the Sydney LGA would have saved $7,479 over three years if rental increases were capped at 2 per cent in 2023. Picture: Damian Shaw
Cessnock renters would be paying $509 per week as opposed to $600 and Inner West tenants would be paying $760 instead of $690.
The proposed Rent Control Bill plans to put a 12 month freeze on rents with automatic backpay to tenants for any rent increases they’ve paid since the end of last financial year on June 30.
After the freeze, a 2 per cent cap would be placed on future increases and two year leases would be made the standard instead of typical 12 or six month contracts.
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Ms Leong said it is impossible to ignore the desperation that many people feel as rents push them further into housing stress. Picture: Gaye Gerard
“The Greens have done the work drafting this legislation to provide immediate relief and ongoing protection to renters across NSW,” Ms Leong said.
“All that is needed now is for the Government to listen to the overwhelming majority of people in our state who support rent controls and for parliament to act.
“There is no greater way for this parliament to deliver relief to millions across this state who are struggling more and more every month while the cost of everything including rent goes up faster than wages, and it is a reform that would not cost the Government one cent,” she said.
Nicole Schmidt is a solo mum of two who’s been renting a three-bedroom home in Ourimbah on the NSW Central Coast since 2019.
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Nicole Schmidt received a rent rise of $100 per week. Picture: Supplied
Her previous rental increases were around $30 to $50 but her latest lease asked for a weekly increase of $100.
Ms Schmidt said it was a cost that could destabilise her family and push them about 30 minutes further away from the region.
“I needed something I could afford so I moved into a house and it was $410 a week initially,” Ms Schmidt said.
“Then they were like, ‘oh, we’re gonna put it up to $430’ … and then it went up $50 to $480 and I got another two year lease.
“This time they’ve only put me on a one-year lease, which I found interesting, because I thought, well, they’ve just put it up $100 in one go.
“I hope they don’t think they’re gonna try and do that again in 12 months,” she said.
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Sydney rents remain the highest in the country. Picture: Gaye Gerard
Ms Schmidt said she grew up moving house all the time as a kid and that she doesn’t want the same for her two boys or for them to feel her second-hand housing stress.
She said she wanted to “just relax” and build their lives.
“As a renter, you’re just never really thinking about the distant future, you’re just living in 12 month increments,” Ms Schmidt said.
“It would just mean that there’s a bit more security, and there’s not that unpredictability of, ‘oh my God, like, am I going to expect a letter any day now?’”
The NSW Minns Labor Government and the Liberal-National Coalition have both repeatedly opposed previously attempts to introduce rent freezes and caps in the NSW Parliament.
They argued at the time that such price controls risk reducing housing supply and discouraging investor confidence.
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