NSW renters are set to see the biggest shake up of rental laws in more than two decades

The major changes will include limiting rental increases for periodic leases to once a year, set fees for breaking a fixed-term lease and no penalties for domestic violence victims who break a lease.

Other changes include introducing minimum standards like basic access to electricity and gas, that buildings are structurally sound, and have adequate natural or artificial lighting and ventilation.

Better Regulation Minister Matt Kean on Thursday introduced long-awaited amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act, labelling them “sweeping reforms for tenants’ rights”.

“Under these common-sense changes, renting families will be able to make minor alterations, such as installing a picture hook to hang their family photos, and will benefit from a new set of minimum standards to ensure properties are in a liveable condition,” Mr Kean said.

“I believe we’ve struck the right balance with this reform, and I’m proud to be leading change that benefits the people of NSW.”

The shake-up is the culmination of two years of lobbying and consultation with renters and industry groups after a review of the act in 2016 made a raft of recommendations to strike a better balance between the interests of tenants and landlords.

The scales were tipped in 2016 after Census data revealed that more than one-third of NSW residents were renters and numbers were growing.

For 25-year-old inner west renter Patrick Morrow, the changes will not come soon enough.

“For a landlord, a house may be an investment, but for us, it’s a home. And with a growing number of renters, it makes sense that tenants should have the same sense of place as those lucky enough to own their own property,” he said.

“The ability to make a space your own without a permission slip from a real estate agent is a precious freedom – even if it doesn’t seem like much. More than anything, these changes offer a bit more certainty and stability. In a rental market as vicious as Sydney’s, that’s a really welcome feeling.”

While many of the changes bolster tenants’ rights, the glaring omission, according to the Tenants’ Union of NSW is that “no grounds” evictions was left untouched, the most important reform needed, according to experts.

“There are significant positive elements which could make a big difference in the lives of tenants. But there are some big items missing, which will reduce their effectiveness,” the union’s senior policy officer, Leo Patterson Ross, said.

“Unfair evictions will remain, and will undermine many of the improvements that have been proposed. We call on Parliament to do the right thing by NSW’s two million renters and implement a fairer eviction system.

Greens housing spokeswoman Jenny Leong already has her sights set on amending the bill to remove “no grounds” eviction, to allow pets as the default in NSW and to include kitchens as a range of other minimum standards.

“We know that landlords misuse this provision all the time, evicting tenants as retaliation for requesting repairs, or simply to increase the rent,” she said.

“While the bill has some improvements, none of these will be meaningful while tenants can be evicted for accessing their rights under the law.

The Real Estate Institute of NSW reported while it was integral to the reform process, the announcement took it by surprise.

Shadow minister for Innovation and Better Regulation Yasmin Catley was pleased with greater protections for domestic violence victims, but said the government “missed the opportunity to make real reform” by leaving no-grounds eviction in the Act.