The Property Council of Australia has welcomed the announcement by the Victorian Government of $500 million in relief directed to residential and commercial tenants and landlords through the support package announced today.
"The State Government has shown a responsiveness to all parties involved and we look forward to contributing to the technical implementation of this announcement to ensure outcomes are fair for the parties," said Cressida Wall, Property Council, Executive Director Victoria.
"This is a substantial package to respond to this unprecedented time.
"It is beyond question that landlords and tenants are struggling to deal with the difficult impacts of the pandemic period.
"We have been working closely with the Government to ensure that all parties impacted by this crisis are considered and we welcome calls for partnerships between tenants, landlords and the banking sector.
"Relief from financial institutions is the crucial, missing piece of this puzzle; loan repayments are a landlord's biggest fixed cost. Commercial landlords acknowledge the pain many tenants are facing but without support from banks, commercial landlords face extreme pressure and some cannot survive prolonged significant discounting.
"Safeguards are vital to ensure the moratorium on evictions doesn't lead to opportunism by commercial tenants," Ms Wall said.
