Retail and Commercial Leases Act 1995

A lessor, or the lessor's agent, must, before a retail shop lease is entered into, give the lessee a disclosure statement for the lease signed by or on behalf of the lessor in accordance with the requirements set out in subsection (4).

A disclosure statement for a retail shop lease is not required to be given in respect of a renewal of a retail shop lease.

A disclosure statement is a written document stating or containing—

the address of the shop; and

the lettable area of the shop; and

the permitted uses of the shop; and

the term of the lease; and

the hours during which the lessee will have access to the shop outside trading hours; and

the date on which the shop will be available for occupation; and

the amount of the base rent payable under the lease and the basis on which the base rent may be changed; and

any other rent payable under the lease and the basis of its calculation;

each category of outgoings the lessee is to be liable to pay or reimburse (in whole or part), and an estimate of the lessee's annual liability for outgoings of each category; and

whether the amount the lessee is required to pay towards outgoing includes a margin of profit for the lessor and, if so, the percentage profit or the basis on which the profit is to be calculated; and

the nature of any other monetary obligations imposed on the lessee under the lease and, if possible, an estimate of the annual cost of complying with those obligations; and

whether any right to renew or extend the term of the lease is given by the lease and, if so, the nature of the right; and

the legal consequences of breach of a term of the lease (including the consequences of early termination of the lease by the lessee); and

a warning that oral representations made by the lessor or the lessor's agent on which the lessee has relied should be reduced to writing and signed by or on behalf of the lessor before the lessee enters into the lease; and

a warning that the lessee should obtain independent legal and financial advice before entering into the lease.

If the shop is situated in a retail shopping centre, the disclosure statement must also state—

the address of the retail shopping centre; and

the number of shops in the retail shopping centre and their total lettable area; and

the number of parking bays available for the use of customers of the shop and the number of parking bays available for use by the lessee and the lessee's employees; and

the nature of the facilities and services provided by the lessor; and

whether changes to the retail shopping centre are proposed and, if so, the nature of the changes; and

the core trading hours; and

the current tenant mix and any proposed changes to the current tenant mix; and

whether the lessor is prepared to give the lessee an assurance that the current tenant mix will not be altered to the lessee's disadvantage by the introduction of a competitor; and

whether there is a tenant association and, if so, the nature of the association, the voting rights of members, and the contributions payable by members; and

whether contributions are or may be required towards the costs of advertising and promoting the shopping centre and, if so, the estimated annual contribution to be required from the lessee.

A disclosure statement must comply with requirements of the regulations about the form in which it is to be presented.

A disclosure statement provided under subsection (1) must be served on the lessee—

by personal service on the lessee or the lessee's agent; or

by leaving it for the lessee at—

the lessee's usual or last known place of residence or business; or

in the case of a lessee that is a company, the company's registered office, with someone apparently over the age of 16 years; or

by serving it by post on the lessee or the lessee's agent at the lessee's or agent's address provided by the lessee or agent for the purpose; or

by transmitting it by fax or email to a fax number or email address provided by the lessee or lessee's agent for the purpose (in which case the disclosure statement will be taken to have been served at the time of transmission); or

in any other manner prescribed by the regulations.

Service by post is effected by addressing, prepaying and posting the disclosure statement, and service will be taken to have occurred when the disclosure statement would be delivered in the ordinary course of post.

A lessee or lessee's agent must, within 14 days of being served with the disclosure statement, return a signed acknowledgement of receipt of the disclosure statement to the lessor or the lessor's agent.

If a disclosure statement is not given as required by subsection (1), or contains information that at the time it is given is materially false or misleading, the Magistrates Court may, on application by the lessee, make one or more of the following orders as may be appropriate in the circumstances of the case—

an order avoiding the lease in whole or part;

an order varying the lease;

an order requiring the lessor to repay money paid by the lessee;

an order requiring the lessor to pay compensation to the lessee;

an order dealing with incidental or ancillary matters.

However, an order cannot be made under subsection (5) on the ground that a disclosure statement is incomplete or contains information that is materially false or misleading if—

the lessor has acted honestly and reasonably and ought reasonably to be excused; and

the lessee has not been substantially prejudiced.