Category - Legal

Redeveloping a shopping centre is as much about careful legal planning as it is about design and fit-outs. In this...

The NSW Retail Leases Amendment (Review) Bill 2025 introduces modest but notable changes to retail leasing law. Robert Speirs unpacks...

In an era of evolving privacy laws and rising consumer awareness, shopping centres face a delicate balancing act: using CCTV...

When a lessee enters ‘voluntary administration’, for the landlord it’s a complicated situation. Do the administrators pay the rent? Is...

In 2025 Australian employers covered by the Fair Work Act may commit a new criminal wage theft offence if they...

To what extent do landlords need to inform tenants of their rights when exercising an option to renew their lease?...

We would all agree that in many cases, tenants need protection. A small business owner may have little knowledge of...

In a put and call option agreement for the sale of land, the option fee is commonly credited towards the...

To what extent is a specialist valuer required to have “adequate regard” to certain factors when determining the current market...

If a lessee is in the wrong and has breached the lease resulting in a premature lease termination, you would...

How much control do you have, as a lessor, over the type and style of a proposed retail operation when...

We see in retail leases the phrases, “the parties agree to agree on…” and “the parties will discuss and agree...

We live in a time of natural disasters; floods, storms, fires and the like! Often, property is a casualty. In...

The laws which govern commercial tenancy agreements between small retailers and landlords, including shopping centre owners, are being reviewed by...

There’s good ‘practical advice’ here and it’s COVID-19 related. Leases have been extended to match up to negotiated rent deferral...

Robert Spiers can always find fault in ‘normal time’ legislation. When circumstances change and legislation is rushed to deal with...

Victoria has just introduced a Bill that could establish a ‘commencement date’ in a retail lease, in a centre that...

It’s almost Christmas. Need some humour, some light but challenging reading? One would think that the farthest material for such...

Another case of poor legislation in South Australia where, (yes unbelievably) there’s a minimum 5-year term of lease. It was...

Combustible Cladding is a hot issue (forgive the pun) at the moment. It has very serious ramifications for all ‘public’...

You’re a retailer and your lease says that if a tenant is in breach of the lease, your landlord can...

Some in our office reckon Speirs’ papers on retail lease legislation are the best in the issue! The following would...

As usual, a very amusing article from Robert Speirs. This time he looks at the ‘Assignment of Lease’ clause, with...

Core trading hours are anachronistic; so says Robert Speirs. Since their introduction some years ago, shopping habits have changed, as...

Robert Speirs, a specialist in retail leases and regular contributor to SCN, looks at the recent case where the lessors...

Indemnities are often the least understood clause in the retail lease. So says John Morrison. In this article, he looks...

The retail legislation in Victoria is much the same as the retail legislation in the other Australian jurisdictions. One of...

I have recently acted for a tenant in a retail lease dispute which demonstrates the ability of the legislation to...

The minimum 5-year term was one of the pillars of the New South Wales Retail Leases Act when it was...

We’re often asked by retail landlords seeking security for their retail properties – what’s better: a bank guarantee, a director’s...

We are all familiar with the frustration often created by the application of retail lease legislation and the impact that...

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