With Victoria tackling its sixth lockdown, which does not look like easing any time soon, the impact on businesses continues.
To relieve some pressure for commercial tenants, the Commercial Tenancy Relief Scheme has been updated by Regulations passed on 24 August 2021 by the Victorian Government.
At this stage, the Scheme will be in force from 28 July 2021 until 15 January 2022.
Under the Scheme, rent relief is available to eligible commercial tenants who have lost more than 30 per cent of turnover during the pandemic.
The rent relief will be calculated by comparing turnover for the final quarter of the 2020/2021 financial year with the turnover from the final quarter of 2018/2019.
If you are a new business that was not operating in 2019, there are special arrangements that will be in place to assess the impact to your turnover.
Guidance on how you calculate the decline in your business’ turnover is contained in the Regulations.
The Regulations can be found here.
Our news article dated 3 August 2021 also provides further information about the Scheme.
We strongly recommend that once the relief has been agreed with Landlords, it is carefully documented and all parties are required to sign off on that agreement.
If we can assist you in answering any questions relating to the Scheme, or how it could apply to your business, please contact a member of our office who would be happy to discuss.
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