Lease assistance extended

Since opening the Office of the Queensland Small Business Commissioner (QSBC) four months ago, 2,000 business owners have contacted the QSBC in search for rental relief. In April, the Government introduced the Retail Shop Leases and other Commercial Leases (COVID-19 Emergency Response) Regulation 2020 which established a process for resolving disputes between landlords and tenants and gave effect to the good faith leasing principles in the National Code. The QSBC writes that:

The COVID-19 pandemic has, quite rightly in my view, placed a emphasis and awareness of the critical role played by small business in driving our nation’s economy. It is therefore important that we give small businesses every opportunity to succeed and prosper.

The Business community has officially been heard after crying out for the relief to be further extended beyond its original September 30th expiry date. Cairns business CEO, Vanessa Schap, explained that:

Unlike Victoria, ACT and NSW, the Queensland Government has omitted including a ‘reasonable recovery period’ in its Retail Shop Leases and Other Commercial Leases (COVID-19 Emergency Response) Regulation 2020 [...] What this means is that after September 30, 2020, all tenants are expected to return to paying full rent plus repayments of any deferred rent during the past six months

Like many of the other states, the Queensland Government has recently extended the modification arrangements for commercial leases until the 31 December 2020.