Tenants unable to pay rent on commercial leases have been given a lifeline after almost two months of negotiations between Labour and New Zealand First. If tenants and landlords can't reach agreement on a fair rent reduction they will have to enter compulsory arbitration. The rent dispute process is for businesses with 20 or fewer fulltime employees which can prove a loss of revenue as a result of Covid-19. $40m for arbitration costsIf agreement can't be reached between landlords and tenants arbitration will be subsidised by about 75 percent. "A bigger retail business that has seen all of its sites disrupted will be able to get the benefit of this process,'' Little said.

Source: Stuff June 03, 2020 17:37 UTC