Acting Senior Member Nash at VCAT today handed down an interesting decision about the operation of s 28 of the RLA 2003 in the case of Pagica Pty Ltd atf the Oscinah Trust v Inlet Property Pty Ltd (Building and Property) [2024] VCAT 830.   In summary, the Tribunal found that: a s 28 notice is […]

In an earlier post here I discussed another decision from VCAT holding that rent review by CPI or to the current market rent with a ‘cap‘ on increases is inconsistent with s 35(2) of the RLA 2003. A number of readers have told me that they are following this issue closely and I noted on […]

In the recent decision of Club Fogolar Furlan Melbourne v Paramount Investments Group Pty Ltd [2024] VSC 208 in the Supreme Court of Victoria, Croft J considered whether a default notice alleging arrears of rent could be valid if it did not make an allowance for abatement of rent claimed by the tenant under s 57 of the Retail […]

Have a look at the following text from section 37(2) of the Retail Leases Act 2003 (Vic) (emphasis added): (2) The current market rent is taken to be the rent obtainable at the time of the review in a free and open market between a willing landlord and willing tenant in an arm’s length transaction having regard to these matters— […]

An earlier post on this blog here discusses two cases from Member Nash at VCAT in which the Tribunal held that a rent review covenant with a cap (or, in one case, a cap and collar) was inconsistent with sub-s 35(2) of the RLA 2003.  In another decision handed down today, Acting Senior Member Nash (as the Member […]

Further to my earlier posts here and here, Croft J’s reasons in The Trust Company Limited v Blue Train Cafe Pty Ltd [2024] VSC 232 (10 May 2024) are now available on AustLii. The substance of the appeal was a challenge to the Tribunal’s conditions placed on the grant of an interlocutory injunction.   The landlord and the tenant were in dispute […]

I have had a few inquiries recently about an earlier here in which I discussed the VCAT decision of Blue Train Café Pty Ltd v The Trust Company Limited (Building and Property) [2024] VCAT 75, in which the Tribunal rejected an argument by a landlord that a tenant seeking an injunction to restrain wrongful re-entry should […]

Attached below is an excellent paper produced by barristers Robert Hay KC and Brett Harding discussing recent issues with VCAT’s jurisdiction that went with a video presentation yesterday afternoon.   The paper addresses these issues from retail leasing perspective, so the paper is essential reading for anyone who practices in this area. VCAT’s jurisdiction – An […]

There are a couple of issues that often come up in landlord and tenant cases that were both considered by the Court of Appeal’s decision last week in Brotherhood of St Laurence v Sarina Investments Pty Ltd [2024] VSCA 46 (26 March 2024). First, tenants occasionally try to terminate a lease when the landlord has breached its repair […]

In the recent case of Q St Kilda Tenancy Pty Ltd v Bortnik (Building and Property) [2023] VCAT 1384, the Tribunal heard argument that a landlord who sought to apply increases to the rent that had not previously been charged either had waived the rent increases or was estopped from applying the old increases.  This has been tried […]