Harmonised National Retail Lease Register?
The reaction…like the Curate’s Egg – good in part but mostly good!

As we said in the previous bulletin there is an urgent need for a Harmonised National Retail Lease Register – makes commercial and legislative sense.

The reaction from retailers was positive, some State governments working around the fringes of some form of retail lease registration and as expected some push back from the landlords.

The Harmonised National Lease Register should be added to the COAG Harmonised Four Pillars of Retail Legislation Reform Agenda.

·         The current costly, inefficient, sometimes inaccurate and late registration of retail leases on State retail property registers is unacceptable in 2009, certainly moving into 2010.

·         A cost effective Harmonised National Retail Lease Register is required to provide retailers and property developers’ accurate, timely retail lease information for an orderly informed retail property market to exist in Australia.

The RETAiL Alert Group wrote to the Minister for Finance and Deregulation Lindsay Tanner and State Premiers recommending that a Harmonised National Retail Lease Register be added to the current COAG National Retail Tenancy Working Group’s list of Harmonised Four Pillars of Retail Tenancy Reform objectives. 

1.    A Harmonised National Retail Lease Register will provide transparency avoiding future ACCC intrusions into Australian retail leasing matters. 

2.    At a State level a Harmonised National Retail Lease Register will provide transparency avoiding contention on State Retail Zoning and Planning issues. 

3.    Lower retail lease registration maintenance costs for the States, transparency and a more efficient informed Australian retail property market the required outcome. 

4.  One of the benefits of a review will be defining and including missing or hidden elements of current Shopping Centre Leases such as inducements, free fit-outs, hidden marketing    subsidies and transparency on potential uncompetitive leasing practices.  

5.  It is proposed that the funding of such Harmonised National Retail Lease Register is paid for on a user access pay principle.

We will be following up with the Minister for his latest views, talking with retail sector industry associations, supportive State governments and progressive landlords to move the Harmonised National Retail Lease Register discussion to the next progress level.

Readers will be kept informed on progress.

We are asking for further input from our readers on this subject – comments and thoughts to be emailed Harmonised National Retail Lease Register.

Tony Standley
Principal
The RETAiL Alert Group (Australia)
Mobile +61 (0)41 924 0497
e-mail info@adsass.com.au
Fax +61 (0)2 9987 0633
Website http://www.retailalert.com.au
 
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