Our tailored COVID-19 Variation Deed Agreement can help you gain certainty in uncertain times

Since the Commonwealth Government proposed a moratorium on rental evictions, there has been a great deal of confusion as tenants believe this also means they don’t have to pay their rent during this period. 

The fact is, unless a tenant has an agreement with their landlord which states otherwise, or they will be covered by the proposed industry code of practice announced 3 April 2020, tenants still need to pay their rent and if they don’t there can be some serious and costly consequences. 

In fact, if tenants don’t pay their rent, without the agreement of the Landlord, they will be in breach of their lease and can incur default interest. 

Having conversations now is key

To avoid putting themselves in this position, we recommend tenants and landlords look to enter into a binding agreement which looks at a number of options such as suspending or reducing usual terms during this period, while adding key steps to help both parties during this time.

Most importantly, it can give tenants a degree of certainty that when the moratorium is over, they will not have the extra burden of unpaid rent hanging over their heads.