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March 28, 2024

State support for landlords and tenants as COVID-19 restrictions continue

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The NSW government says it’s offering financial support for landlords and tenants struggling due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Finance and Small Business Minister Damien Tudehope said last week many commercial and residential renters were doing it tough with reduced turnover or work hours due to the restrictions.

Mr Tudehope said the government’s financial relief would allow landlords to work with tenants to offer rent reductions.

The new package was similar to a land tax relief program started in May last year that ended in May this year.

Mr Tudehope said the government received 17,200 applications for the first program and awarded $186 million in relief funding.

Up to zero land tax or $1500 worth of rent covered

The minister said the new version of the land tax relief program was demand driven and unlimited.

Minister for Better Regulation and Innovation Kevin Anderson said landlords could choose between applying for land tax relief of up 100 per cent of their land tax liability for 2021 or a payment of up to $1,500 per tenancy.

To be eligible for commercial land tax relief, landowners had to be leasing to a commercial tenant with an annual turnover of up to $50 million.

The commercial tenant then had to be eligible for either the 2021 COVID-19 Business Grant, JobSaver or the COVID-19 Micro-business Grant.

To be eligible for residential land tax relief or straight payments, landowners had to be leasing to a residential tenant who had lost 25 per cent or more of household income due to COVID-19.

Land tax relief was available to landowners who reduced rent for affected tenants by at least the amount being claimed for any period between 1 July and 31 December 2021.

The simple payments were only available to landlords who agreed to reduce rent for COVID-19 impacted tenants from 14 July to 31 December 2021.

The government said landowners couldn’t require tenants to repay the reduced rent claimed through the rebates.

Mr Anderson said the payments meant landlords were less likely to face missing mortgage repayments and the extra protections for residential tenants meant they wouldn’t have to worry about being evicted during the pandemic.

The government said it had extra staff working to help process a high volume of applications.

More information on other COVID-19 government support measures were available via the 2021 COVID-19 Support Package page.

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1 COMMENT

  1. Oh I like that bit “the government’s financial relief would allow landlords to work with tenants to offer rent reductions.”
    Landlords work with tenants? I mulled and worked that thought over in my mind “Landlords work with tenants?” What a great idea.
    I wondered how I would work that one out in working with my landlord to give me 50 percent off for my rent up to Christmas.
    I went into the kitchen and took a headache powder, then came back and had a second thought, then went back into the kitchen and had a second headache powder as my headache had gotten worse just thinking about “working” with my landlord since he had increased my rent because things were not working out.
    That is what he said. Things were not working out.

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