On Wednesday the Victorian Government announced by press release that it was reintroducing the commercial tenancy rent relief scheme which operated from May to December of last year. That scheme permitted JobKeeper employers with turnover of less than $50 million to seek rent relief from their landlords proportionate to their reduction in turnover. The rent relief was required to take the form of 50% waiver of rent and 50% deferral of rent. Obviously the Federal Government's JobKeeper scheme is no longer in operation but in its press release the Victorian Government stated that only tenants whose turnover had fallen by 30% would be eligible to seek rent relief. The press release stated that the scheme would commence from Wednesday but at this stage it is unclear how long it will operate for and what accounting periods the tenant will need to refer to when seeking the rent relief from their landlord. These details will be included in legislation which will be introduced into the Victorian Parliament. We will keep you updated with details of the draft legislation once it is available.
During the course of last year we acted for landlords and tenants involved in rent relief negotiations and are available to assist during the operation of the reintroduced scheme. If you do have any queries regarding the rent relief scheme please feel free to contact Michael Bishop or David Mazzeo.