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Business Tenancies (Fair Dealings) Act 2003
47Tenant to be compensated for disturbance
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47 Tenant to be compensated for disturbance
(1) A retail shop lease is taken to provide that if the landlord:
(a) inhibits access of the tenant to the shop in a substantial
manner; or
(b) takes an action that would inhibit or alter, to a substantial
extent, the flow of customers to the shop; or
(c) unreasonably takes an action that causes significant
disruption of, or has a significant adverse effect on, trading of
the tenant in the shop; or
(d) fails to take all reasonable steps to prevent or put a stop to
anything that causes significant disruption of, or which has a
significant adverse effect on, trading of the tenant in the shop
and that is attributable to causes within the landlord's control;
or
(e) fails to rectify a breakdown of plant or equipment under the
landlord's care or maintenance; or
Business Tenancies (Fair Dealings) Act 2003 37
(f) if the retail shop to which the lease relates is within a retail
shopping centre – fails to adequately clean, maintain or repair
the retail shopping centre, including common areas;
and the landlord does not rectify the matter as soon as reasonably
practicable after being requested in writing by the tenant to do so,
the landlord is liable to pay the tenant reasonable compensation for
loss or damage, other than nominal damage, suffered by the tenant
as a consequence.
(2) In determining whether a landlord has acted unreasonably for
subsection (1)(c), due consideration is to be given to whether the
landlord has acted in accordance with recognised shopping centre
management practices.
(3) A retail shop lease may include a provision preventing or limiting a
claim for compensation under the provisions implied by this section
in respect of a particular occurrence if the likelihood of the
occurrence was specifically drawn to the attention of the tenant in
writing before the lease was entered into.
(4) The provisions implied by this section do not apply to an action
taken by the landlord:
(a) as a reasonable response to an emergency situation; or
(b) in compliance with a duty imposed by or under an Act or
resulting from a requirement imposed by a statutory authority
or local government council acting under the authority of an
Act.