The Victorian Government today announced a new/extended rent relief scheme for small to medium sized tenants in Victoria. A copy of the press release is available here: https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/commercial-tenancy-relief-victorian-businesses At this stage, there are more ‘unknowns‘ than ‘knowns‘, particularly as the previous scheme was tied to Jobkeeper, which is no longer in operation. Here are a […]

In another recent development, this time under the Retail Leases Act 2003 (Vic) (RLA 2003),[1] Senior Member Forde at VCAT has held that a head lease is not a lease of retail premises under that Act. In Izett St Pty Ltd v Applgold Pty Ltd (Building and Property) [2021] VCAT 174, Senior Member Forde at VCAT heard as a preliminary […]

VCAT has recently handed down another decision about the CTRS that readers should be aware of. The first thing to note is that the decision was on an application for an interlocutory injunction.  That means that the applicant (in this case, the tenant) needs to show an arguable case (also known as a serious question to be […]

… for those interested in the PS Market decision referred to in my last post, you can see another detailed discussion here: https://www.easternbridge.com.au/post/update-11-effects-of-covid-19-on-commercial-tenancies … and for those interested in the C B Buffet decision from late last year, you can see another detailed discussion here: http://melbournepropertylaw.blogspot.com/2021/01/are-there-any-cases-about-victorian.html As usual, I will try to forward copies of […]

Welcome back to everyone.  I hope you all had a good break and that 2021 is as interesting as 2020 – but hopefully less stressful! Since my last post there have been two new cases from VCAT considering application of the CTRS.  The short points are: in PS Market Pty Ltd v Brijcam Nominees Pty Ltd (Building and […]

The amendments to the CTRS Regs that came into effect last week are small in number and most of the procedures will be familiar to most readers by now.  However, there are a couple of things about the CTRS Regs 3.0 that are worth noting. First, a consolidated version of the COVID-19 Omnibus (Emergency Measures) (Commercial Leases […]

The new regulations extending the CTRS to 28 March 2021 have now been published and gazetted. A copy of the new regulations is available here: The Gazette entry is available here: http://www.gazette.vic.gov.au/gazette/Gazettes2020/GG2020S687.pdf The new regulations appear to simply amend the end date of the existing regulations from 31 December 2020 to 28 March 2020. It […]

The following was posted on the Minister Pulford’s Facebook page about an hour or two ago (emphasis added): So many small businesses have done an amazing job to get through a tough year – and they’re looking to a strong recovery and a very different 2021. We’ve been proud to stand with businesses and our […]

My good friends David Lloyd, Bill Rimmer and Antony Berger have recently presented an online CPD through Greens List about COVID-19 and residential tenancies. Attached to this post is a copy of their excellent paper and PowerPoint presentation that readers of this blog might find useful. I expect that a video recording of their CPD […]

The first decision that I have seen from VCAT about the CTRS has been published today. The facts are very similar in substance to the Sneakerboy case. The tenant operates a Chinese buffet restaurant and its trade was adversely affected by COVID-19 as early as January 2020. It fell into rent arrears and the landlord […]