In a welcome move to the real estate sector, the Victorian Budget 2020/21 includes numerous measures to stimulate construction and increase the housing supply. Read more

The State Governments of New South Wales and Victoria have recently announced shake-ups to their respective stamp duty regimes as part of their 2020-21 State Budgets, with NSW in particular proposing significant changes to property transfer taxes. Read more

On 29 March 2020 monetary thresholds for acquisitions of leases of land of more than 5 years (including options to renew) by foreign persons were reduced to zero.  This meant that a large volume of leasing transactions which previously did not require approval fell into the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) net.  On 3 September 2020, the FIRB amended these temporary measures to allow renewals and material variations of leases to proceed without approval in some circumstances. The new measures took effect on 4 September 2020. Read more

There is no doubt that Covid-19 will have a significant and long lasting effect on the real estate sector. The sector will not return to the way it was and we will see the impact of the pandemic permeate all parts of the industry for years to come. It is important for real estate players to pre-empt some of these predicted future trends so that they can be ahead of the game in both taking defensive positions on risk areas and pursuing new opportunities. One thing Covid-19 has shown the world is how quickly things can change and imagination can create possibility for things which were never considered possible before now. Read more

Generally, if a landlord intends to terminate a lease due to a tenant’s breach of the lease,  the landlord must first serve a notice (Breach Notice) on the tenant. The landlord must then grant the tenant a “reasonable time” after service of the Breach Notice to remedy the breach, if it is capable of remedy, and pay any money that is required to be paid as compensation to the landlord’s reasonable satisfaction. But what is a "reasonable time" exactly? Read more

The shockwaves from the outbreak of COVID-19 are being felt right across the Australian economy – and commercial real estate is no different. Tenants and landlords are facing the prospect of a prolonged reduction in business activity, remote working and even total shutdown – none of which were anticipated at the time they signed their lease. The legal implications of this invidious state of affairs have been the subject of both considerable interest and uncertainty. To assist, we have prepared this guide on the key legal issues arising under commercial leases in the COVID-19 environment and what Government measures are presently available for landlords and tenants. Read more

On 1 May 2020, substantial changes to the Strata Titles Act 1985 (WA) came into effect. Those changes to the Act are included in the Strata Titles Amendment Act 2018 (WA) – which was passed some time ago but has remained inoperative until the corresponding updated regulations were prepared.  The Strata Titles General Regulations 1996 (WA) will be repealed by the Strata Titles (General) Regulations 2019 (WA), also with effect from 1 May 2020. Read more

On 29 March the National Cabinet agreed the principles that will underpin relief for commercial tenancies in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic. This comes after the passing by the NSW legislative Council and Legislative Assembly of the COVID-19 Legislative Amendment (Emergency Measures) Act 2020 (Act) on 25 March 2020. In this article, we discuss what the National Cabinet announcement means for commercial tenancies and what the ACT means for retail tenancies. Read more