What is it?
Then Commercial Landlord Hardship Fund has been set up to provide grants to small landlords worth up to $3,000 a month per property. These landlords will either experience hardship or have experienced hardship due to the rental relief they have provided to their tenants under the ‘Retail and Other Commercial Leases (COVID-19) Regulation 2021’.
Landlords will lose their eligibility for this grant if they have already claimed land tax relief between 1 July 2021 and 31 December 2021.
The goal behind this grant is to provide support to smaller landlords whose main source of income is impacted by the rental relief regulations. The rental relief regulation stated above provides a moratorium on any actions against tenants due to non-payment and always includes a rule that rent must be reduced in the same proportion as the tenant’s loss of revenue.
Applications for this fund are currently open. There is not an announced deadline to submit applications yet.
How will it work?
The process is set out as follows:
Step 1 – Reach a rental agreement to reduce rent payable through negotiations or per the regulation.
Step 2 – Receive approval from tenant to disclose terms of your agreement when applying for the fund.
Step 3 – retain evidence that the reduction has been applied for each month the fund is to be claimed.
Grants will be paid from the fund, up to the value of the amount of rent relief provided, capping out at $3,000 per month for each property affected. The payments will stop either when the ‘fund’ is closed by the government, or the date rent relief agreement is set to end.
Service NSW will pay a lump sum equal to the total monthly value of the rent waived between 1 August and 14 November 2021. Please note that this program is only available in NSW.
Are you eligible?
The main eligibility criteria include:
- Being a landlord
- Having entered into an agreement to provide rent relief to your tenant from 13 July 2021
- Have and will not claim land tax relief between 1 July 2021 and 31 December 2021.
Where should you apply?
You may use the link here to begin your application process.
For more information or assistance please contact Infinite Accounting Solutions on 02 9899 4730 or via the contact page at www.ias-ca.com.au