- NSW government says the support has been designed to reach landlords
- Previous land program provided $186M of land tax relief
The New South Wales government has announced a new incentive for landlords to provide rental reductions to tenants in financial distress due to lockdown.
Applications for financial relief are now open to eligible commercial and residential landowners.
Damien Tudehope, Minister for Finance and Small Business said the land tax relief and tenancy support payments have been constructed to more easily reach landowners, and therefore to support tenants.
“Many renters, commercial and residential, are doing it tough right now, with reduced turnover or work hours due to the COVID-19 restrictions,” Mr Tudehope said.
“We’ve heard from landowners that they would like to help their tenants, but they also have bills to pay. Providing financial relief will enable them to work with their tenants to offer rent reductions and to alleviate some of the cost-burden during restrictions.”
Damien Tudehope, Minister for Finance and Small Business
The package is similar to the previous land tax relief program which ran during the year-to-May 2021. During the life of this program, $186 million in relief was provided after 17,200 applications were received.
Kevin Anderson, the Minister for Better Regulation, explained that residential landlords have the choice between applying for land tax relief or payment of up to $1,500 per tenancy. This is only if tenants see their rent decrease from 14 July 2021 to 31 December 2021.
To be eligible, the residential tenant must have lost at least 25% of their household income due to covid.
“During times like these we need solutions that work for everyone and the NSW Government is committed to supporting tenants and landlords as they get back on their feet, giving people one less thing to worry about,” Mr Anderson said.
“This $1,500 payment means landlords will be less likely to face missing mortgage repayments. Extra protections for residential tenants means they won’t have to worry about being evicted at this time due to circumstances outside of their control.”
Kevin Anderson, Minister for Better Regulation
To meet the expected demand for the program, the NSW government said it has allocated extra staff to assist with the applications.
To be eligible for commercial land tax relief, the tenant must have an annual turnover of $50 million or under and be currently allowed to receive the 2021 COVID-19 Business Grant, JobSaver or the COVID-19 Micro-business grant.
