As I indicated in our last newsletter there are a number of changes coming to retail leasing on 1 July this year. This month we look at the other important changes coming
The 5 other changes relevant to you are:
- Certain non retail uses are now excluded from the Act
- ATM s vending machines communication towers public telephones and similar uses are now excluded from the legislation under a schedule to the Act
- Agreements to lease
- There have been changes made so that agreements to lease are now covered by the Act so that a disclosure document will need to be provided up front with one of these.
- Penalty notices
- The Act will now mean that penalty notices can be issued by relevant authorities for breaches of the Act . If you are served with one of these you can elect to pay the penalty or contest it in s court
- Appointment of specialist retail values
- The registrar can appoint a panel of valuers to determine market rent under the Act
- On line transactions
- Income from on line transactions is not to be included in any calculation of turnover rent except in exceptional circumstances
There are some further more minor changes. The most fundamental change and the elephant in the room is in respect of disclosure of outgoings in the lessors disclosure document. This will need to be very carefully managed by landlords and their solicitors to ensure no nasty surprises down the track if this article is of interest to you please contact PBL Law Group to discuss further.
