There are many ways that a government agency (“Authority”) may interfere with your use and enjoyment of a property which you lease (“Premises“), some of which will give rise to compensation claims.

As a tenant, your claims will be for the market value of your leasehold interest (if any) and/or for pecuniary loss arising from your interest in land being divested or diminished.  When the law permits such a claim to be made, you must show that your financial loss arises as a natural, direct and reasonable consequence of the action of the Authority.  If you are unable to satisfy this test, it is probable that your claim will be unsuccessful.

The type of claims which a tenant can make are many and varied and include the following:-

  • loss of goodwill;
  • relocation expenses;
  • costs of closure; and
  • loss of stock.

As a starting point, it will be wise for both the Owner and the Tenant to retain different solicitors as their interests are unlikely to be aligned.

Whilst not intended to be an exhaustive list, we detail some of the more common ways in which an Authority may interfere, upon which you may require our assistance.

  • An Authority wants to enter the Premises you lease to inspect, temporarily occupy or use part of it. You wish to explore your rights.

    Hypothetical fact situation (adopting Owner Category 1 hypothetical fact situation)

    1. Saxon owns a property on the highway and leases it to Lee for the conduct of his thoroughbred horse breeding business.
    2. The road authority wants a strip of Saxon’s land to widen the highway.
    3. The road authority wants to inspect the property to survey, take soil tests and check for native vegetation and aboriginal artefacts.
    4. Lee has short term concerns about the effect of the inspection on his activities and longer term concerns about adverse impacts on the conduct of his business from the widened highway.

    If your situation is similar to Lee’s, can you answer these questions?

    • Do you know your rights and obligations which arise from these circumstances?
    • Do you have any entitlements to compensation?
    • How is a claim for compensation made?

    How can we help?

    We can help by:-

    1. Advising you of your rights and obligations;
    2. Ensuring the Authority complies with its statutory obligations by giving proper written notice before its representatives enter your property;
    3. Identifying the precise area of interest to the Authority;
    4. Seeking clarification of the purpose for the inspection, temporary occupation or use contemplated by the Authority and the potential timing for any future compulsory land acquisition; and
    5. Explaining the circumstances which may give rise to a claim for compensation and the role to be played by appropriate experts and us in the formulation and conduct of such a claim.

    The making of an appointment

    Please make an appointment with us by telephoning one of our solicitors – Selina Clark (03) 9861 7731, Lauren Sullivan (03) 9861 7715 or Desmond Khoo (03) 9861 7763.

    At this appointment, please bring the completed Client Information Sheet and as much of the documentation listed therein as you are able to gather together as this will aid in the giving of advice.

  • The Premises you lease is affected by an Authority's intention

    The Premises is affected by one of the following :-

    • a current or future Public Acquisition Overlay (“PAO”) in your municipality’s planning scheme; or
    • a current or future proposal by an Authority for a purpose in pursuit of its functions;
    • a public purpose designation in a Precinct Structure Plan (“PSP”) in your municipality’s planning scheme; or
    • an Authority publishes notice of its intention to amend your municipality’s planning scheme to include the Premises in a PAO or apply a public purpose designation to the Premises in a PSP.
    • You are concerned that your use and enjoyment of the Property will be compromised by an Authority’s intentions.
  • Compulsory land acquisition is imminent

    An Authority has advised of its intention to compulsorily acquire the Premises.  You wish to explore your rights and determine how best to pursue compensation.  This leads to a number of different scenarios with potentially different rights and compensation outcomes.

    3.1     An Authority gives initial notice of its intention to compulsorily acquire the Premises.  Prior to this advice, you had no knowledge of the Authority’s proposal for the use of the Premises for a public purpose.

    Click here for Hypothetical Fact Situation

    3.2     An Authority has served on you a Notice of Intention to Acquire formally advising you that it intends to compulsorily acquire the Premises.

    Click here for Hypothetical Fact Situation

  • Compulsory land acquisition has commenced

    An Authority has served a Notice of Acquisition compulsorily acquiring the Premises.  You wish to explore your rights and determine how best to pursue compensation.  This leads to a number of different scenarios with potentially different rights and compensation outcomes.

    4.1     An Authority has published a Notice of Acquisition to acquire the Premises and has made or is about to make an offer of  compensation.

    Click here for Hypothetical Fact Situation

    4.2     The offer of compensation for the acquisition of the Premises is insufficient to cover your expenses and losses.

    Please make an appointment with us by telephoning one of our solicitors – Selina Clark (03) 9861 7731, Desmond Khoo (03) 9861 7763 or Lauren Sullivan (03) 9861 7715.

    At this appointment, please bring the completed Client Information Sheet and as much of the documentation listed therein as you are able to gather together as this will aid in the giving of advice.