Commercial landlords who are experiencing hardship as a result of having to waive rent for their tenant (or tenants) can now apply for a grant of up to $6,000, for each eligible tenancy, from the Victorian Government.
The grant will be equal to the dollar amount of rent waived under the Commercial Tenancy Relief Scheme, between the 28th of July 2021 and 15th of January 2022, to a maximum of $6,000 per eligible tenancy.
For landlords who are undergoing acute financial hardship, the grant will be increased to $10,000 per eligible tenancy.
Applications for this grant are open now and will remain open until either the 15th of January 2022, or until the allocated funds are exhausted (so we encourage you to submit your application sooner rather than later).
Applicants must pass the following criteria to be eligible for this grant:
- be a landlord with total taxable landholdings of less than $3 million, including part holdings but excluding principal place of residence, or where a property is held on trust, the total taxable landholdings of the trust must be less than $3 million
- be able to confirm property ownership by Customer Number shown on the State Revenue Office Land Tax Assessment Notice or by a 2020-21 Municipal Rates Notice
- be the landlord of property subject to a Commercial Tenancy Relief Scheme eligible tenancy
- be a landlord with a current lease agreement that provides rent relief to the tenant(s) under the Commercial Tenancy Relief Scheme for any period between 28 July 2021 and 15 January 2022.
- Landlords must attest that commercial rent represents more than 50 per cent of their total gross income for the 2019-20 financial year.
To be considered for the acute hardship grant of up to $10,000, you will need to request a Qualified Agent letter from us that includes confirmation that:
- commercial rent represents at least 70 per cent of the landlord’s total gross annual income for the 2019-20 financial year
- the landlord is neither an owner occupier nor a related party of the tenant.
The following circumstances may be considered in deciding to award a grant:
- any adverse findings by a regulator regarding a property owner
- an owner or joint owners being declared bankrupt.
For further information and to apply for this grant, please visit this link.
If you have any questions regarding anything mentioned above, please contact your usual HMH advisor on +61 3 9840 2200