The Victorian Government has announced that there will be an extension of the ban on evictions and rental increases except in certain circumstance (which are not yet specified).
Whilst the legislation is yet to be passed and the specifics yet to be clarified, it appears likely that the following key elements will be addressed:
- Extension of ban on eviction of tenants until 31 December 2020
- Extension of moratorium on rental increases until 31 December 2020
- Required rent reductions to be linked to the tenant’s turnover (noting that the Code suggested this but the current Regulations were vague on the issue)
- Increased incentives for landlords to provide relief to commercial tenants, including:
- A doubling of the land tax discount from 25% up to 50% where landlord’s provide outright rent waivers to tenants of at least 50% for at least three months; and
- hardship payments of $3,000 per tenancy for eligible small commercial landlords
- Eligible small businesses that own their own commercial premises will now be able to claim land tax relief
Note that the above is still expected to only apply to “eligible leases” as defined in the Regulations.
We will provide you with further updates once the details become available. If you have any queries in the meantime or require any assistance in relation to rent relief negotiations, please do not hesitate to contact us.