Retail Shop Leases Act 2005

Retail Shop Leases amendments have finally become law.
The legislation does not vary substantially from the information reported in our earlier newsletters.  We however note the following matters of importance:

Landlord Disclosure
At least 7 days before a prospective Tenant enters into a Retail Shop Lease, the Landlord must give the proposed Tenant a draft of the Lease and a Disclosure Statement.  The Tenant may terminate the Lease by giving written notice to the Landlord within 6 months after the Tenant enters the Lease if these provisions are not satisfied.  Note the notice period has now been extended to 6 months. The Tenant cannot terminate the Lease on the grounds that the Disclosure Statement is defective if: the Landlord acted honestly and reasonably; and the Lessee is in substantially as good a position. Different rules apply to “major lessees”.  In general this applies to national tenants that have at least 5 retail shops in Queensland.  This should not be assumed however as many franchise operations have their Leases in the name of the Franchisee.

Email your Details to recieve the full version
Back to Feature Articles