Retail Leasing Practices Under the Spotlight in Australia
Franchisees Down Under Complain They Are But Meat in The Renter's Sandwich
CANBERRA, Australia (Blue MauMau) - Small business owners in Australia are complaining that they lack market power in leasing premises. So Australia's Productivity Commission is undertaking a public inquiry to examine and report on difficulties small businesses may face in entering into commercial leases and the lack of buying influence.
SmartCompany, an online magazine for small businesses, reports, "Underlying each of these complaints is the perception that shopping centre owners exercise superior market power over their tenants. For many tenants, this means lease negotiations involve just one choice – agree to the landlord’s offer, or walk away."
Unfortunately, because of the interruptions caused by the upcoming federal election (24 November), the Productivity Commission has extended its deadline for receiving submissions to its retail leasing inquiry to 31 March 2008. The submissions to the inquiry are available below:
A browse through some of the 139 submissions received to date will shed light on retail leasing practices in Australia.
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