New rental bond scheme starts today in NSW, but only in select suburbs

New portable bond scheme for NSW renters starts today Mon 10 Aug 2026 at 7:04am From today, renters moving into selected New South Wales suburbs can transfer their existing bonds to their new rental properties, potentially saving thousands of dollars. The government's Smart Rental Bonds scheme is now live, but currently it is only available in the Parramatta, Penrith and Central Coast local government areas. The system is being introduced a year later than expected and it won't be free to use, but the government thinks it will be popular with renters. What is the scheme? Smart Rental Bonds is designed to remove one of the financial headaches many renters experience when they are moving from one property to another. Having been accepted for a rental, they may be required to find thousands of dollars to pay a bond for the new property before their old bond is returned to them. Shelter NSW CEO John Engeler said the stress of finding cash to cover another bond can be a major barrier to moving. "It might seem like it's not a big deal, but for people on low and very low incomes, this is a game changer,"he said. Some tenants have to borrow money, he added, or go without food in order to scrape together another deposit. To overcome this, Smart Rental Bonds allows renters to transfer their existing bond to their new property via an online portal. How does it work？ Renters will have to pay a $25 application fee to use the online service, overseen by NSW Fair Trading. They will have to nominate which bond they would like to transfer, choose where they want it sent, then pay the difference if the new bond is higher. For example, if the existing bond is $2,400 but the new bond is $2,700, the tenant will need to make a $300 top-up payment in order to transfer it. If the new bond is cheaper than the existing one, the tenant will be refunded as long as no claim is made against the existing bond. How do landlords make claims against the bond？ The process of deducting money from a bond will not fundamentally change for the landlord. If a landlord believes they are owed money due to unpaid rent or damage, they can make a claim against the bond. If the tenant agrees to the claim, the government will pay the landlord directly and the renter will have to pay the government back within 28 days. If the tenant disputes the claim, the matter can be determined by the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT). The government will only pay a landlord's claim once there is an agreement with the tenant or an order from NCAT. Who can use it？ For now, only renters moving into properties in the Parramatta, Penrith and Central Coast local government areas can use Smart Rental Bonds. Fair Trading Minister Anoulack Chanthivong said the scheme needed to be scaled up gradually. "You're talking close to a million bonds and $2.3 billion worth of renters' money," he said. "Having a planned, phased process ensures that the system works smoothly and actually instils trust and confidence." The government had hoped to deliver the scheme by late 2025, but delayed its launch until mid-2026 to ensure it could roll out smoothly. Mr Chanthivong said more locations would be added in the coming months. "If things go well, every renter across New South Wales will have access to Smart Rental Bonds by the end of the year." Why the fee？ The $25 fee is payable every time a renter wants to transfer their bond. While the scheme has been welcomed by the Tenants' Union of NSW, the fee has not. When the government announced the details earlier this year, the Tenants' Union said the $25 charge would disproportionately affect renters on low incomes. Mr Chanthivong said the fee would help cover the scheme's administration costs and insisted the government wasn't trying to profit. "It's a very small investment from renters of $25, which potentially saves them up to $4,000,"he said. Mr Engeler said while he would prefer the scheme to be free, he believed the application fee would be worth it. "At $25, I think most reasonable people would say that's a lot less of an impediment than $2,500 or what an average four-week bond would be," he said. "Let's not worry about the cents. We're talking about big dollars."