The Retail Leases Regulations 2003 contain a disclosure statement that is to be completed by the landlord, and provided to the tenant (along with the Information Brochure about retail leases published by the Small Business Commissioner and a copy of the lease) at least 7 days before the signing of a new lease (section 17 of the Retail Leases Act 2003 (the "Act")).

The disclosure statement outlines important information about the lease, for example:
 - the term of the lease
 - whether there are options for further terms 
 - the occupancy costs for leasing the premises (including rent and any outgoings)
 - specific information for shopping centre leases
 - tenant's fitout requirements
 - if there are any relocation or demolition clauses

It should be noted that the layout of the disclosure statement does not need to be the same as the prescribed disclosure statement in the Retail Leases Regulations 2003.

If the tenant has exercised or is entitled to exercise an option to renew a retail premises lease, the landlord is required to provide this statement to the tenant at least 21 days before the end of the current term (section 26 of the Act).

In the situation where all of the parties to a retail premises lease enter into an agreement to renew the lease, the landlord is required to provide this statement to the tenant at least 14 days after the entering into of the agreement (section 26 of the Act).

The tenant has remedies including termination of a lease under the Retail Leases Act 2003 if information in this statement is misleading, false or materially incomplete.

The disclosure statement (as part of the Retail Leases Regulations) can be downloaded (in pdf form or word form) by clicking on the documents below:

vsbc_retail_leases_regulations_2003.pdf

vsbc_retail_leases_regulations_2003.doc

For further information or assistance, contact the VSBC on 03 9651 9316.