Pursuant to Section 44 of the Retail Leases Act 1994 (NSW)(‘the Act’), a landlord must notify a tenant, not less than six (6) months prior to the expiry of a Lease, if the landlord does not propose to offer the tenant a renewal or an extension of the Lease.
This places a positive obligation on a landlord (or a managing agent) to notify a retail tenant if the landlord requires a tenant to vacate the premises on expiry of a Lease by providing at least six (6) months’ notice.
If the required notice is not provided to the tenant, the tenant is entitled to request an extension of the Lease up to the required notice period of six (6) months under its current Lease.
Therefore, it is important to diarise the date that is approximately seven (7) months prior to the expiry of the Lease to ensure that you (or your managing agent) notifies the tenant of your intentions upon expiry of a retail Lease. Section 44 of Act does not affect any options to renew that may be contained in a Lease.
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