Revealed: Sydney landlords giving away ‘free rent’ to secure tenants

Units at both number 14 and 15/ 59 Chandos Street Ashfield are currently listed for $645 per week offering one week rent free

Sydney’s rental market is shifting gears as a number of unit listings are being offered with weeks of free rent in a bid to entice tenants to lock in a home.

Listings in locations across NSW including Ashfield, Castle Hill, Liverpool and Greenwich are boasting rental deals for tenants where the initial rent free periods add up to cash savings of up to $1,575.

The rental offers have followed a gradual easing in rental conditions after years of tenants navigating a cutthroat rental market that often pressured them to offer extra amounts of rent or months worth of rent advances to secure homes.

Currently listed with two weeks of free rent is 15/2 Bigge Street, Liverpool which is otherwise $650 per week in rent

15/2 Bigge Street, Liverpool is currently listed for $650 per week offering two weeks of free rent

PropTrack economist Angus Moore said rental market conditions have moderated in Sydney.

“The rental vacancy rate is up to 1.6 per cent as of July, which is the highest we’ve seen this year,” he said.

“This is also a notable improvement from the extremely tight rental market conditions we were seeing towards the end of 2022 and throughout 2023, when vacancy rates were as low as 1.1 per cent.”

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PropTrack Executive Manager, Economics Angus Moore

“These easing conditions are also reflected in how long it is taking for homes to be leased once they’re available.

“The typical time it takes for a rental to be leased has increased to 21 days from as a low as 18 days in 2023 and 2024.”

Mr Moore said this being said, 1.6 per cent is still much lower than what was typical pre-pandemic, meaning prospective tenants are still facing limited choice.

The Rent Fairy Founder and Director Sarah Elkordi said listings offered with free rent also represent a shift in how tenants are thinking and living now.

181 Greenwich Rd, Greenwich is currently listed for $1,575 per week and offering one week of free rent

181 Greenwich Rd, Greenwich is currently listed for $1,575 per week offering one week of free rent

“I do think it is a bit more of a tenants market but I do think it is due to a shift in the change of how tenants are thinking and how they’re living now,” she said.

“From my finding, majority of them are the units in newer blocks or properties that are coming up where there is multiple in the same unit complex and I’m finding that they tend to be more of the one bedroom to two bedroom properties – and why the agents are losing out on potential tenants in those properties is because of the excessive amounts of rent for those type of properties available.”

Director and founder of The Rent Fairy Sarah Elkordi

Ms Elkordi said tenants are also being ‘smarter’ in the market.

“They’re moving into more share houses to get more bang for their buck,” she said.

“That’s leaving the normally highly sought-after one bedroom, potentially two bedroom units on the market for quite longer which is then resulting in landlords having to say, okay, what are we going to do to entice some tenants to come through one week’s free rent whether it be $600, $700 or $800 is always a great saving.”

Ms Elkordi said it’s a way of getting people through the door.

804/13 De Clambe Dr, Castle Hill is currently listed for $880 per week currently offering one week of free rent

“I don’t necessarily think that it’s something the tenants are jumping on, it also depends on the quality of the property,” she said.

Ms Elkordi said there has been a shift in these offers.

“I have seen it die down quite a little bit,” she said.

“There was one that shocked me in particular, it was a client in Kellyville who a property that was a four bedroom duplex that was sitting on the market for quite some time and that I think is because there was an influx of properties available at the one time in Kellyville and what the owners offered was two weeks rent free to get someone in before a particular date.”

Ms Elkordi said you were also more likely to see these offers in certain times of the year.

“I think winter is always quieter for rentals,” she said.

Previous long lines were common across rental inspections in Sydney. Surry Hills in 2024. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“Nobody wants to move with potential rain and it’s a cosy time of year in my opinion.

“I do think it’s that time when we’re seeing more of these free rent and incentives to move.”

Tenants Union NSW CEO Leo Patterson Ross agreed these incentives can be an indicator of a shift in the market.

But he added that tenants should be cautious as free rent offers could often be motivated by a range of different reasons.

“We have seen people doing this particularly in new developments through the peak of high rental increases the last couple of years because in new developments, so often the developer makes some guarantee as to the rent collection in the initial sale to investors and it’s in their interest to get people in,” he said.

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Tenants Union NSW CEO Leo Patterson-Ross Picture: Rohan Kelly

“If you offer one week free rent but the rent is even 5 per cent above what the market would otherwise support, then actually you can make more over that year in the higher rent from every other week, it also sets you up for a higher rent increase the next year.

“People need to look carefully at what is the yearly and even multi-year cost of that particular deal and compare that to what the market would otherwise suggest.”

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