Commercial lease reform in the UK: can we learn anything from Australia about the awareness of small business tenants?

The way in which the commercial leasing system in the United Kingdom has treated small business tenants has been a cause of some concern to both business groupings and government.  

The areas where most concern was expressed were around upward-only rent reviews, confidentiality clauses and dispute resolution.

The initial response in the UK was to introduce voluntary codes of practice for landlords and tenants to work within. In response to the same issue, other countries have gone down a legislative route.

With funding provided by the Investment Property Forum Educational Trust and the RICS Education Trust, Professor Neil Crosby at the  University of Reading Business School in the UK investigated how the Australians have attempted to solve their small business tenant problems. 

Many of the policy objectives of the Australian State Governments are similar to the UK and their response has been to ignore voluntary solutions and implement legislation or mandatory codes, which create an enforceable framework for both negotiations and the lease document.