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 […]

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 […]

Noman Mermelstein of the firm Law Ink Pty Ltd has recently published an article in the Law Institute Journal that asks whether, in light of a string of recent decisions, there is really a need for retail tenancies legislation in our community. A copy of Norman’s article is available here. The article is excellent and […]

Deputy President Lulham at VCAT has on 12 April 2019 handed down a decision that is potentially significant in the ongoing issue over the operation of both s 52 of the Retail Leases Act 2003 (Vic) and s 251 of the Building Act 1993 (Vic). For background to that issue, see here. Since President Garde […]

In the significant recent decision of S3 Sth Melb Pty Ltd v Red Pepper Property Group Pty Ltd [2018] VCAT 1684, Deputy President Riegler held that a landlord’s failure to repair an air conditioning unit was a repudiation of the lease by the landlord, allowing the tenant to accept that repudiation and terminate the lease. […]

The High Court last week in Burns v Corbett [2018] HCA 15 held that a state tribunal does not have jurisdiction over residents of other states.   This may be raised at VCAT if either landlord or tenant are interstate residents. There are, at this stage, two apparent answers to this problem: it appears that the […]

In an interesting decision handed down this week Senior Member Riegler at VCAT considered whether the $1M occupancy costs exclusion applied to exclude a lease from the operation of the RLA 2003 and found that: 1. while sub-s 11(2) of the RLA 2003 prevents late entry into the Act, it allows a late exit, that […]

The High Court of Australia this morning refused special leave to appeal the decision of the Victorian Court of Appeal in IMCC Group (Australia) Pty Ltd v CB Cold Storage Pty Ltd [2017] VSCA 178. For a discussion of that decision, see my earlier post here. If you are really keen, you can follow the […]

The recent trend in retail leasing cases has seen a gradual broadening of leases that fall within the definition of “retail” under the Retail Leases Act 2003 (Vic) (RLA 2003). Many commentators, myself included, have suggested that all businesses that wholly or predominantly supply services will be considered retail, whether or not these services are […]