The ACT government has moved ahead with laws to ban no-cause evictions after Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury introduced legislation on Wednesday.
The amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act will also include a ban on rent bidding, and changes to support a future introduction of minimum standards for rental properties.
It will also include laws to confirm a tenants' right to grow food and compost.
The ban on no-cause evictions would mean landlords would need a valid reason to evict a tenant. Under current laws, landlords can end a lease for no reason as long as a tenant is given 26 weeks' notice.
While the proposed laws would ban no-cause evictions, a landlord would still be able to end a tenancy agreement for legitimate reasons, including failing to pay rent, property damage and if a landlord wants to sell the property.
Mr Rattenbury said one of the tensions for renters was the threat of an eviction without reason.
"Canberrans who are renting should feel safe and secure in the homes they're living in," he said.
Mr Rattenbury said the bill will propose to remove no-cause terminations without introducing the end of fixed-term tenancy terminations.
He said this would put the ACT "at the forefront in Australia". He said when Queensland introduced such laws it meant people were simply being evicted after 12 months.
"We don't want to create that perverse outcome here in the ACT," Mr Rattenbury said.
The government pledged to ban no-cause evictions in the Labor and Greens power-sharing agreement. Previously, Labor and the Liberals blocked proposed legislation put forward by Greens MLA Caroline Le Couteur to ban the practice.
The changes would be the latest in a series of amendments to the ACT's residential tenancies act which have taken place in recent years.
The proposed amendments will also introduce changes to minimum energy standards. The government set out a timeline for this earlier this month.
The minimum standard, which mirrors a level typically used in new builds, comes into effect on April 1, 2023, with a phase-in period to November 30, 2026.
Laws were changed to make it easier for tenants to have pets in 2019. Under those changes, tenants only need to ask permission for a pet if it is included in a tenancy agreement.
However, critics of the bill have said it could result in further tightening of Canberra's already scarce rental market.
Opposition housing spokesman Mark Parton said the changes could have a serious impact on renters as landlords would leave the market.
"These changes will lead to a tightening of the rental market, they will lead to high rents and ultimately they will lead to homelessness," he said.
"This is not the time to be further tinkering with residential tenancies legislation.
"We've got a rental affordability crisis right around Australia but it's worst here because of the movement in residential tenancies, because of skyrocketing rates and because of long-term planning."
The Real Estate Institute of the ACT has also previously expressed concerns of "unintended consequences" associated with the bill, including that it could force landlords to sell their properties and leave the market.
