To ease the pressure on Victoria’s small and medium-sized businesses during the lockdown, the Victorian Government reintroduced the Commercial Tenancy Relief Scheme (the Scheme).
The Scheme will help small and medium-sized businesses with an annual turnover of less than $50 million that have experienced a fall in turnover of more than 30 per cent during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Eligible business owners can obtain relief in the form of a proportionate reduction in rent. For example, a business with a turnover of 40 per cent of pre-pandemic levels can only be charged 40 per cent of its rent. Of the balance, at least half must be waived, with the remainder deferred.
There is also a freeze on rent increases and evictions for not paying rent, which are banned until 15 January 2022, where the tenant is eligible.
A reminder that applications for rent relief for the period between 28 July 2021 to 30 September 2021 must be submitted to landlords no later than Thursday, 30 September 2021. If you submit a request after this date, the relief will only be effective from the date of request to the landlord until 15 January 2022.
Should you require any assistance with your submissions and negotiations, please contact our leasing and property partners, Adrian Gerber or Ken Lam at Lpc Cresa. Lpc Cresa are one of Australia’s leading tenant-only advisory services businesses and will ensure their advice is completely independent to benefit the tenant – rather than the landlord.
NRA members have exclusive access to a ‘members only’ subscription with discounted pricing. To find out what is included in this subscription, you can view the plan here.
