Avoid being rushed when signing lease documents (retail premises in Victoria)

It’s common for tenants to feel pressured to sign a new lease quickly, especially where the landlord or their agent is keen to “lock it in”. But a lease is a serious commitment. Once you sign, you are agreeing to legal and financial obligations that can last for years.

Before you sign anything, it’s worth slowing the process down and making sure you understand what you are being asked to agree to, including the rent, the term, outgoings, repair obligations, insurance requirements, and any restrictions on how you can use the premises.

You should be given key documents in advance

For retail premises in Victoria, the landlord is required to give you:

• a copy of the proposed lease; and

• a disclosure statement,

at least 14 days before you sign the lease.

The disclosure statement is intended to highlight key information about the lease and the premises, and it is also a prompt for you to check whether anything important is missing or unclear.

If the documents are provided late

If the landlord gives you the proposed lease and disclosure statement less than 14 days before the lease is entered into, the lease is taken to commence 14 days after those documents are provided to you—so you still effectively get the full 14-day period.

If the disclosure statement is wrong or incomplete

The prescribed disclosure statement warns that tenants may have remedies (including termination) if the information in the disclosure statement is misleading, false, or materially incomplete.

It also notes that the information is correct as at the date of the disclosure statement, but may change after that date and during the term, so so if there has been delay, it’s sensible to confirm nothing material has changed.

A practical approach before you sign

To stay in control of the process, tenants should consider:

• reading the lease and disclosure statement together (and checking any attachments);

• listing any items that are unclear or commercially unacceptable (for example, make-good obligations, repair obligations, permitted use, and outgoings);

• ensuring everything promised by the landlord/agent is reflected in the written documents; and

• taking the time you need before committing to sign.

How Grainger Legal can help

Our property team can assist tenants by:

• reviewing the lease and disclosure statement and explaining it in plain terms;

• identifying key risks and negotiating points; and

• handling negotiations with the landlord or agent so the signing process proceeds on your timetable, not theirs.

Not sure about your retail lease? Let us take a look.

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