Rein­tro­duc­tion of Nation­al Cab­i­net’s Manda­to­ry Code of Con­duct for Com­mer­cial Leas­ing in NSW 14 Aug 21

NSW Gov­ern­ment will rein­tro­duce the Nation­al Cab­i­net’s Manda­to­ry Code of Con­duct for Com­mer­cial Leasing 

On 13 August 2021, the NSW Gov­ern­ment announced it will rein­tro­duce the Nation­al Cab­i­net’s Manda­to­ry Code of Con­duct for Com­mer­cial Leas­ing until 13 Jan­u­ary 2022 man­dat­ing rent relief for eli­gi­ble ten­ants impact­ed by Covid-19.

The Retail and Oth­er Com­mer­cial Leas­es (Covid-19) Reg­u­la­tion 2021 (Reg­u­la­tion) (which is not yet avail­able) will include the fol­low­ing provisions:

• require a land­lord to pro­vide rent relief to an eli­gi­ble ten­ant in pro­por­tion to the decline in the ten­an­t’s turnover
• the rent relief must be in the form of at least a 50% waiv­er and the bal­ance as a deferral
• a land­lord will be pre­vent­ed from evict­ing or lock­ing out a ten­ant for cer­tain breach­es unless they have first rene­go­ti­at­ed rent and attempt­ed mediation

The Reg­u­la­tion will apply to com­mer­cial and retail ten­ants with a turnover of up to $50 mil­lion who qual­i­fy for the Covid-19 Microbusi­ness Grant, Covid-19 Busi­ness Grant or Job­Saver Payment.

Eli­gi­ble land­lords will also be enti­tled to apply for relief for up to 100% of their 2021 land tax lia­bil­i­ty. How­ev­er, to be eli­gi­ble, land­lords must have reduced rent for impact­ed ten­ants by at least the amount being claimed for any peri­od between 1 July 2021 and 31 Decem­ber 2021.

$40 mil­lion hard­ship fund for small com­mer­cial and retail landlords

A hard­ship fund of $40 mil­lion will be estab­lished to pro­vide a month­ly grant of up to $3,000 for small com­mer­cial and retail land­lords who pro­vide rental waivers of at least the val­ue of the grant and any land tax relief they are eli­gi­ble for. We will pro­vide fur­ther updates regard­ing the Reg­u­la­tion as they become available. 

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