The Court of Appeal today dismissed an appeal from Croft J’s decision in Epping Hotels Pty Ltd v Serene Hotels Pty Ltd [2015] VSC 104. The decision at first instance and the appeal before Croft J are discussed here and here. The first decision from VCAT held that the use of the profits method to determine rent during a […]

My friend Robert Hay has recently published here a useful summary of the recent Court of Appeal in 24 Hour Fitness Pty Ltd v W & B Investment Group Pty Ltd [2015] VSCA 216. The Court of Appeal upheld a decision by Judge Jenkins, sitting as a Vice President of VCAT, to order costs against […]

For those following the Epping Hotel v Serene Hotels rent determination case (see here), an application for leave to appeal the decision the decision of Croft J has been filed in the Court of Appeal. The application for leave to appeal and the hearing of any appeal (if leave is granted) will be heard on 31 […]

Originally posted on Paul Duggan:
VCAT’s no costs presumption is more elastic in some parts of the tribunal than in others. In building cases, the losers commonly pay the winners’ costs. In retail tenancies disputes the losers very rarely do. But the winner paying the loser’s costs? Calderbanks and their equivalents aside, it is almost unheard…

Justice Croft in the Supreme Court yesterday overturned the controversial decision in Serene Hotels Pty Ltd v Epping Hotels Pty Ltd (Retail Tenancies) [2014] VCAT 97. The decision at first instance had two important aspects: it suggested that the ‘profits method’ of determining the rent was prohibited by s 37(2) of the Retail Leases Act […]

Originally posted on Robert Hay KC Blog:
Leases commonly permit a landlord to terminate a lease if the landlord intends to demolish the building located on the leased premises. Section 56 of the Retail Leases Act 2003 (Vic) implies terms into a retail premises lease that provides for the termination of lease on the grounds…

Those following the debate on the operation of s 52 of the RLA and s 251 of the Building Act 1993 (Vic) may be aware that the Victorian Small Business Commissioner made an application to the President of VCAT seeking an opinion on the landlord’s ability to pass on the act and/or cost of compliance with those […]

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 […]