A ‘red tape burden’ has been placed on the commercial property sector, according to a new survey by the Property Council of Australia, with only 25 per cent of provision relief having currently been finalised.
The results highlight the inherent complexities of the codes, coupled with state and territory delays, the Property Council notes.
Now they are calling on state and territory governments to “wind up the codes by the end of September, especially in those jurisdictions where restrictions on business trading have been eased”.
“Everywhere outside of Victoria business has restarted and is trading again as health restrictions have been eased,” Chief Executive of the Property Council of Australia, Ken Morrison said.
“There is no longer the compelling argument which justifies the mandatory provision of rent relief for many commercial tenants.”
Mr Morrison refers to the commercial leasing codes as having “unleashed a red tape octopus”, pointing out the codes took a further two months for the states and territories to finalise after the Cabinet decision in April.
“Once the codes were operational, landlords needed to comply with onerous requirements to determine whether a tenant is eligible for relief and what their loss of turnover had been,” he explained.
“This has required landlords to take on the role of a ‘shadow ATO’, making assessments on a tenant’s income and their eligibility for rent relief.
“Landlords have had hundreds of applications for rent relief to process under these strict legal guidelines, requiring new staff to be added and whole new processes to be created.
“This red tape has actually slowed down the provision of relief. Instead of moving quickly to make arrangements with those that need it, landlords and tenants have been bogged down in a sea of red tape.
“Why do we need to tie up the commercial property sector in red tape when landlords are perfectly able to strike swift deals with tenants who might still need their support?”
