Commercial property consultant Paul Keane says pockets of empty stores are possible if a solution is not found for commercial tenancies. Commercial landlord groups, which have been concerned about large tenants refusing to pay rent, had called for straight rent relief and were disappointed. ''Small businesses need three things: cash, time and certainty,'' the Property Council chief executive Leonie Freeman said in response, earlier this month. Keane urged commercial landlords to ease up on their tenants. Supporting small businesses was the understandable intent, but as it stood, the bill failed to actually target them, Freeman said.

Source: Stuff June 24, 2020 02:37 UTC