Written by Jodie Masson and Jack Vidler on April 18, 2017
Advice for retail landlords and tenants
Amendments to the Retail Leases Act 1994 (NSW) (RLA) will come into effect on 1 July 2017.
The changes are intended to increase transparency and certainty by increasing disclosure obligations, include provisions related to online retail sales and streamline access to justice and remedies.
Our interpretation of the changes is that they are generally positive because they provide clarity and remove some administrative burden. However, there are some traps to be aware of, and there is an additional risk (for landlords) of suffering a compensation claim from a tenant, where previously only a government monetary penalty (rarely enforced) applied.
The amendment introduces new forms of lessor, lessee and assignor’s disclosure statements. Make sure that you are using the new formats on and from 1 July 2017!
The new legislation (sensibly) makes it clear that:
A tenant continues to be able to terminate the lease within 6 months after commencement if a lessor disclosure statement is not provided, is incomplete or is misleading. However, a tenant can now claim compensation from the landlord for reasonable costs (including fit-out) if the termination occurs due to the landlord not providing, or providing a misleading, disclosure statement.
A tenant is not required to pay any outgoings amount that was not disclosed by the landlord.
Further, if the lessor disclosure statement provides an estimate that the landlord arrived at with no reasonable basis and the actual amount of outgoings to be paid exceeds the estimate, then the tenant is only liable to pay the estimated amount and the tenant’s liability for future increase in outgoings is reduced by the same proportion.
For example, if tenant’s land tax contribution was estimated as $4,000pa, but actual cost is $8,000pa then the tenant will be liable for $4,000 in the first year and for only 50% of the actual land tax amount throughout the term.
A list of new excluded uses have been introduced in Schedule 1A, including ATMs, car parking, storage and vending machines.
The requirement for a compulsory minimum term of 5 years unless a section 16(3) certificate was provided has been removed. Accordingly, section 16(3) certificates are no longer required.
This, again, is a sensible change as it reduces a whole lot of administration and the risk of the parties being locked into a term that was not wanted.
The new legislation clarifies that a proposed assignee’s financial resources and retailing skills are to be assessed against the tenant’s at the time the lease is assigned. This of course, could potentially detrimentally affect landlords and tenants where there has been a (upward or downward) change in the tenant’s financial position during the term. This changes only applies to leases entered into before 1 July 2017. In the case of a lease assignment, the landlord also needs to provide an updated landlord’s disclosure statement to the assignee in accordance with the new landlord disclosure requirements.
A lease under the RLA must be registered within 3 months after the execution copy being returned to the landlord if:
This change echoes the general requirement to register a lease for a term of more than 3 years, but now a penalty applies for failure to do so. There is now an implied contractual term that the landlord must give the tenant an executed copy of the lease within 3 months after it is returned to the landlord. These periods will be extended if delay is due to obtaining mortgagee consent, which we suspect will often occur in practice.
A landlord must return bank guarantees to a tenant within 2 months after the tenant ‘completes performance of the obligations under the lease for which the bank guarantees is provided as security’. The landlord will be liable for any loss caused by a failure to return the bank guarantee within this timeframe.
The changes envisage that an ‘online retail bond service’ may be established. This is a new online system for depositing and drawing down on security bonds. However it will be an offence for a landlord or landlord’s agent to require a tenant to use the online retail bond service.
The amendments also make it clear that turnover does not include revenue from online transactions for purposes of turnover rent calculation, unless goods or services are delivered from or at the shop, or the transaction occurs at the shop. A tenant cannot be required to provide the landlord with turnover information from online transactions.
The new legislation also makes it clear that demolition provisions in the RLA apply even if only part of a building is being demolished, but also that the lease cannot be terminated for demolition unless the proposed demolition cannot be conducted without vacant possession of the shop. This amendment also applies retrospectively.
The financial jurisdiction of NCAT is increased from $400,000 to $750,000. Interestingly, the RLA also now contemplates ‘penalty notices’ being issued for offences (however, the government would need to introduce regulations to cause this regime to apply, which it has not yet done).
The changes make it clear that landlords can’t on-charge mortgagee consent fees (some landlord had persisted in trying to do this even though even the old legislation arguably prevented recovery of mortgagee consent fees).
The new legislation also means that parties can now apply directly to Registrar for appointment of specialist retail valuer, instead of seeking orders from NCAT – arguably a much better system!
Be careful when asking for a “non-refundable” deposit in a heads of agreement that has all the hallmarks of a binding contract, it might just lock you in to the deal. In this case Mr. Patel paid a non-refundable $50,000 deposit under an HoA, and when the vendor withdrew claiming the HoA was non-binding, Mr Patel sought (and was granted) specific performance. A good reminder that it’s important for your HoA to be explicitly non-binding if that is your intention.
https://pinpoint.cch.com.au/document/legauUio3697613sl1502889120/patel-v-sengun-investment-holdings-pty-ltd-2023-aplc-23-046
August 9, 2024
This recognition is a tribute to all of the hard work carried out by our lawyers and support staff, and also to our wonderful clients who have been a pleasure to work with, and who provide us with such rewarding transactions.
We look forward to enjoying a fun night with our peers at the LawyersWeekly Awards ceremony in August!
July 15, 2024
Not all guarantees are created equal: understanding the risks associated with guarantees in property transactions and whether you might be forced to ‘pay the price’ for a purchaser’s non-completion.
June 18, 2024
Sincere thanks to our wonderful clients and hard-working team for supporting our inclusion in the Legal 500 (Asia Pacific) Guide as a leading firm in Real Estate for 2023
The Legal 500 has been analysing law firm capabilities across the world for more than 3 decades in over 150 jurisdictions. Their research is based on: “feedback from 300,000 clients worldwide, submissions from law firms and interviews with leading private practice lawyers, and a team of researchers who have unrivalled experience in the legal market.” – https://www.legal500.com/about-us/
February 10, 2023
We are delighted that Massons has been selected as an “Excellence Awardee” in the category of “Boutique Firm of the Year” at the 2022 Australasian Law Awards.
Thank you to all of our wonderful clients who have supported our nomination in this category, and to our amazing lawyers and support staff for making this possible!
Wishing all the other Awardees the best of luck and looking forward to the Gala Dinner. A night out with our team is always cause for celebration – win, lose or draw!!
March 23, 2022
We are excited about our inclusion in Doyle’s Guide for 2022 for NSW in the following categories:
Massons – Leading Property & Real Estate Law Firms
Jodie Masson – Leading Property & Real Estate Lawyers and Leading Leasing Lawyers
Leisha de Aboitiz – Leading Property & Real Estate Lawyers and Leading Leasing Lawyers
Ben Malone – Property & Real Estate Law Rising Stars
Thank you to all of our peers and wonderful clients who have helped to achieve this recognition.
March 14, 2022