HomeBuilder Scheme - $25,000 grants for owner-occupiers to 31 December 2020

The grant is currently available until 31 December 2020 and is restricted to 27,000 applications only.

To be eligible for this grant you must be:

• building a new home or buying an off-the-plan unit for up to $750,000; or

• substantially renovating an existing home where the cost for renovations is between $150,000 to $750,000 and where the total property value does not exceed $1.5 million.

You do not qualify for the grant if:

• you are a couple who makes more than $200,000 per year or an individual who makes more than $125,000 a year; or

• you are an owner who does not use the help of builders to carry out building works or renovations to your property.

Retail and Other Commercial Leases Regulation 2020 (NSW)

On 25 April 2020, the NSW Government announced that tenants who are experiencing difficulty paying rent could request rent reductions in the form of waivers and deferrals from their landlords of up to 100% of the amount ordinarily payable until 25 October 2020.

Landlords are not permitted to terminate a lease for a tenant’s failure to pay rent during the pandemic period or the subsequent recovery period. 

To be eligible, a tenant must be a small to medium business suffering “financial stress or hardship” and the business is entitled for the JobKeeper program and has an annual turnover of up to $50 million.

A tenant who continues to trade during the pandemic period may not be entitled to rent relief or a waiver for rent if the tenant breaches the terms of its lease.

Land Tax Relief for Commercial Landlords

Commercial landlords that provide rent relief to eligible tenants will be entitled to land tax relief of equivalent value, up to a maximum of 25% of their land tax liability for 2020 on the relevant property.

Landlords will receive a waiver on land tax if they are yet to pay, or a rebate of previously paid land tax.

Landlords that receive this tax concession will also be able to defer their remaining land tax payments for 3 months.

Case Law Update - Is a constructive trust a caveatable interest?

In Mayrin DM Pty Ltd v Kaiyu Deng [2019] Mr Deng was employed as an acquisitions specialist under contract in April 2017 by Mayrin DM Pty Ltd to locate suitable investment properties for it to purchase.

Mayrin DM Pty Ltd clearly stated to Mr Deng that it was interested in properties in the suburb of Westmead and those suburbs adjoining the Sydney Metro West Transport development.

Mr Deng stopped working for Mayrin DM Pty Ltd on 22 January 2019.

On 31 January 2019 and 7 March 2019, Mr Deng purchased two properties in Westmead. Mayrin DM Pty Ltd argued Mr Deng had come across these properties during his employment with it. Therefore, Mr Deng owed Mayrin DM Pty Ltd a fiduciary duty to notify it of the availability of the two Westmead properties during his term of employment. In legal terms a fiduciary duty of an employee is to avoid conflict, the duty to not make a profit, and the duty not to gain a personal benefit or a benefit for a third party without the consent of the employer.

Mayrin DM Pty Ltd lodged a caveat on the title of the two Westmead properties purchased by Mr Deng. A caveat is a legal document which provides notice of an interest in property by a party other than the registered proprietor. This claim was heard in court.

The Court observed that s74K(2) of the Real Property Act 1900 (NSW) (the Act) provides the Court with the power to extend the operation of a caveat if it is satisfied that the caveator’s (Mayrin DM Pty Ltd) claim has substance.

In determining this question, the Court considered an array of authorities which explored whether the breach of a fiduciary duty and/or the creation of a constructive trust could be a caveatable interest in land. A constructive trust is imposed by a court to remedy an unconscionable acquisition of property.

The Court found that the available authorities indicated that if the Caveator (Mayrin DM Pty Ltd) was able to demonstrate that Mr Deng during his employment breached his fiduciary duty, there was a strong prospect that the Mayrin DM Pty Ltd would be entitled to a transfer of the property.

It was concluded that a constructive trust could indeed give rise to a caveatable interest.

Mr Deng attempted to argue that the caveat was invalid on the basis it was not in the proper form as it did not state that the Caveator (Mayrin DM Pty Ltd) was claiming an interest by way of constructive trust.

The Court held that there was sufficient identification by way of the Caveator’s (Mayrin DM Pty Ltd) reference to a breach of fiduciary, contractual and statutory duties owed by Mr Deng. Therefore, the Court allowed the application to extend the operation of the caveat and the properties were transferred to Mayrin DM pty Ltd.