30 Apr 2020

One third of commercial rents unpaid last month

From Nine To Noon, 9:43 am on 30 April 2020
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND - AUGUST 26, 2018: Queen Street buildings on a sunny winter day. The city attracts 2 million tourists annually.

Photo: 123RF

New data shows one third of commercial tenants did not pay rent in April. The cloud based commercial property software firm Re-leased manages invoicing and payments for more than 10,000 properties including 35,000 leases around the country, covering retail, office space and industrial properties. Founder Tom Wallace says rent from the retail sector was down 53 per cent last month, with office and industrial rents down by around a third. The government says it is working on measures to help commercial tenants and landlords but no details are available yet. Kathryn speaks with Tom Wallace, and Leonie Freeman from the Property Council.