Retail Shop Leases Act 1994

This section applies if—

a person (the franchisor) is the lessee of a retail shop; and

the franchisor proposes to grant a licence (the licence) to another person (the franchisee) to occupy and use, for the carrying on of a business, all or part of the retail shop; and

the business mentioned in paragraph (b) is to be carried on under a name or mark identifying, commonly associated with or controlled by the franchisor or an entity connected with the franchisor.

For the purposes of complying with section 21B in relation to the licence, the franchisor may request a disclosure statement (a head lessor disclosure statement) from the lessor.

On request by the franchisor under subsection (2)—

the lessor must, within 28 days of receiving the request, give the franchisor a head lessor disclosure statement that is updated to the date it is given; and

the franchisor must pay the lessor’s reasonable expenses incurred for preparation of the head lessor disclosure statement.

In applying section 21B in relation to the licence—

a reference to a prospective lessee is taken to be a reference to a franchisee; and

a reference to a lessor is taken to be a reference to a franchisor; and

a reference to giving a disclosure statement is taken to be a reference to giving both of the following documents—

a head lessor disclosure statement that is updated to a date no more than 2 months before the date the statement is given to the franchisee;

a written statement detailing any matters of which the franchisor is aware, or could reasonably be aware, that affect the information in the head lessor disclosure statement.