• 20 Mar 2020

Commercial Leases: Where Do We Stand With COVID - 19

All businesses in Australia are experiencing unprecedented times – literally. The Federal Government has made several policy announcements to help businesses in the last week or so. As widely anticipated, some of these will have an impact on landlords and tenants.

The Federal Government announced a countrywide six – month moratorium on eviction of commercial tenants that are facing downturn in their business because of COVID-19.

Following the National Cabinet principles, the NSW State Government is finalising measures to assist tenants in NSW as well. The main features include:

• Land tax rebates for landlords who agree to pass on savings to tenants
• Stronger restrictions on evictions for impacted tenants
• Rent freezes, reductions or deferrals for tenants who are severely impacted by COVID-19

Unfortunately, while we can see the direction in which the government policies in relation to the commercial landlords and tenants are going, the details are yet to be revealed.

Moving forward, landlords should pay special attention to further policy details as they emerge and then, finally, the legislation which would no doubt have significant impact on both, retail and commercial leases.

Property Law Team, Acorn Lawyers