LANDLORDS SAY RENT RELIEF CANNOT BE EXTENDED
SHOPPING centre landlords say they have provided more than $1bn in rental relief to “mum and dad” businesses throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
But they are warning they will be unable to afford further extensions to government codes that provide relief to tenants.
Data provided by the Shopping Centre Council of Australia showed that between April — when the Commercial Tenancies Code of Conduct was introduced — and June 30, $1.6bn worth in rental relief was provided, mostly to small- and medium-sized businesses.
The industry group counts Scentre, which owns Australia’s Westfield shopping centres, Vicinity Centres and Stockland among its members.
Under the code of conduct, tenants affected by the pandemic have been able to negotiate temporary relief measures with landlords. It is enforced by state governments and says rents should be reduced in line with turnover reductions experienced by tenants and any concessions landlords receive should be passed on by way of rent reductions.
Politicians are mulling an extension because of the economic ramifications of the lockdowns in Victoria.
The industry association said 87 per cent of all smalland medium-sized tenants requested rental relief.
More than two-thirds of the relief provided was to businesses in Victoria and New South Wales, which have bigger economies and enacted the code earlier.
In Victoria, $412m in rental relief was provided by the end of June, and $581m was provided in NSW, the group said. Assistance to all other states and territories was about $600m.
Shopping Centre Council director Angus Nardi said that although it was in the interest of landlords to help tenants, they would be unable to continue providing relief in the event the code was extended beyond September, when it is scheduled to expire.
“We have strived to strike a balance between helping those who need it while at the same time confronting our own financial pressures in the face of ongoing disruptions to regular trading to protect public health,” Mr Nardi said.
“Our sector stands alone in having regulation require us to provide direct financial assistance to third parties, which must be financed from our own resources, which are now exhausted.”