In the recent decision of Wang v Orion Holdings Australia Pty Ltd (Building and Property) [2014] VCAT 812, VCAT held that premises let as student accommodation was a retail premises, even though most guests stayed for six months. In Stringer and Ors v Gilandos Pty Ltd [2012] VSC 361, discussed here, Croft J held that a lease of […]

A number of VCAT decisions in recent years have found that: s 52(2) of the Retail Leases Act 2003 (Vic) creates a ‘baseline’ standard of repair that the landlord cannot contract out of; but that the parties can agree to put and maintain the premises in a higher standard than that required by s 52(2). […]

There have been four developments for the leasing community over recent weeks: leave was granted to appeal the decision in Serene Hotels v Epping Hotels; a hearing was scheduled for the Small Business Commissioner’s application for advice from the President of VCAT; the Minister for Small Business has made a new determination excluding certain leases […]

A vexing issue in the retail tenancies list at VCAT has been whether and when a landlord can sue a retail tenant’s guarantor at the Tribunal. This issue was addressed by the Cavanough J in Tucci v Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal & Anor [2010] VSC 425, in which the Court held that a landlord could sue a tenant’s […]

A hot issue for retail and commercial leasing practitioners over the last few years has been whether s 251 of the Building Act 1993 (Vic) prevents a landlord from recovering from its tenant as an outgoing under the lease the cost of essential safety measures or other steps required to comply with obligations under the Building Act. A […]

A number of Supreme Court decisions have confirmed that the supply of services business-to-business governed by the RLA 2003, provided that the second business is the ‘ultimate consumer‘ of the services. However, the cases also suggest that: the nature of the premises and the degree to which the premises is ‘open to the public’ may also influence whether […]

A significant issue in retail tenancy disputes is the impact of the no-cost rule and the leverage that it gives to an arguable but weak, or even a hopeless case. In a recent case, discussed here, the Tribunal suggested that a letter to the other side setting out the reasons why their case is hopeless […]

In the VCAT decision of Serene Hotels Pty Ltd v Epping Hotels Pty Ltd handed down last Friday, Member Farrelly at VCAT considered an application to set aside a determination of the rent at a hotel with gaming facilities and held that: a specialist retail valuer is not entitled to use the profits method to […]

  A few solicitors have asked whether, in light of the High Court’s decision in Willmott last week (discussed here), tenants still need to insist on the consent of their landlord’s mortgagee before taking a lease. The answer is ‘yes‘. The High Court’s decision in Willmott recognises that a landlord’s liquidator has the power to extinguish a lease.  It does not […]

  The High Court today found that Liquidators of a landlord company can use the disclaimer power in the Corporations Act to extinguish leases granted by that company. A summary of the decision is available here. The decision upholds a decision of the Victorian Court of Appeal that has created significant consternation among those acting for […]