Some newspapers are today carrying an "exclusive? report quoting a retailer claiming that some shopping centre landlords are including a new lease provision passing on the effects of the new carbon tax to retailers. Leave aside the fact that this clause is actually several years old - which is why it does not refer directly to a "carbon tax? ? and was included in leases once debate began about the need for legislative action to combat greenhouse gas emissions.
The reality is the carbon tax, after 1 July 2012, will inevitably increase electricity charges in shopping centres (and elsewhere), and if the lease permits the recovery of such outgoings, this will mean some retailers will be paying higher prices for their electricity. If the lease does not permit such recovery, the higher charges will be borne by the landlord. (Electricity charges are a recoverable outgoing under retail tenancy legislation.)
This is no different to what will be happening in office buildings: if a lease permits the recovery of electricity charges then office tenants will also be paying higher prices for electricity. This is, after all, one of the objectives of the carbon tax. There should be no surprise, after years of public debate over the need for a carbon tax, that certain business costs, both for landlords and tenants, are going to increase after 1 July and, therefore, the prices of some goods will inevitably rise too.
No comments:
Post a Comment