We live in a time of natural disasters; floods, storms, fires and the like! Often, property is a casualty. In our business, it leads to loss of stock, damage to...

There’s good ‘practical advice’ here and it’s COVID-19 related. Leases have been extended to match up to negotiated rent deferral periods. But what about notices regarding ‘end of lease’? What...

Robert Spiers can always find fault in ‘normal time’ legislation. When circumstances change and legislation is rushed to deal with emerging emergencies, Speirs can find loopholes and anomalies in plague...

Victoria has just introduced a Bill that could establish a ‘commencement date’ in a retail lease, in a centre that hasn’t yet been built! Sounds a bit looney doesn’t it?...

It’s almost Christmas. Need some humour, some light but challenging reading? One would think that the farthest material for such would be in the Retail Leases Act. Not if the...

Another case of poor legislation in South Australia where, (yes unbelievably) there’s a minimum 5-year term of lease. It was instigated to ‘protect tenants’ but as Robert Speirs reveals, it’s...

You’re a retailer and your lease says that if a tenant is in breach of the lease, your landlord can re-enter the premises provided he gives you notice. Your rent...

Some in our office reckon Speirs’ papers on retail lease legislation are the best in the issue! The following would be a real laugh if it were fiction; problem is...

As usual, a very amusing article from Robert Speirs. This time he looks at the ‘Assignment of Lease’ clause, with special attention paid to the NSW Retail Leases Act. Again,...

Core trading hours are anachronistic; so says Robert Speirs. Since their introduction some years ago, shopping habits have changed, as have lifestyles and even what we shop for. Speirs calls...

Robert Speirs, a specialist in retail leases and regular contributor to SCN, looks at the recent case where the lessors claimed a payment for operating costs over and above that...

The retail legislation in Victoria is much the same as the retail legislation in the other Australian jurisdictions. One of the main differences is that, in NSW for instance, “retail...

I have recently acted for a tenant in a retail lease dispute which demonstrates the ability of the legislation to deliver an uppercut when you least expect it...

The minimum 5-year term was one of the pillars of the New South Wales Retail Leases Act when it was enacted in 1994. It has now been repealed. New South Wales is now aligned with Queensland in the belief that the term of a retail shop lease does not need...

Not to be outdone by the banana-benders, the NSW government has tabled the Retail Leases Amendment (Review) Bill 2016...

You’d wonder where Robert Speirs gets his material! How can you write a critique of the Retail Leases Act and more to the point, various reviews on it, issue after issue. Easy! You just report on the reviews – they don’t stop. The latest, the Moss Review of the Retail...

We’ve recently (2015) seen an Amendment Bill to the Queensland Retail Leases Act of 1994.

Sometimes the retail legislation throws in a real curve ball, just to keep you guessing...

In another article in this issue, the SCCA calls for a review of lease legislation. Robert Speirs represents...