A New Normal - The impacts of the Covid-19 virus have been felt the world over and have pushed businesses to their limits. Parties on each side of a lease have been left with the job of negotiating through untested and uncertain lease clauses in a time where the support being offered by Government has been unclear and anyone who did hold insurance is discovering that 'pandemics' and 'infectious diseases' are a common policy exemption.

Under Section 89 of the Unit Titles Act 2010 (“the Act”) bodies corporate are required to hold an annual general meeting ("AGM") within 15 months of the last AGM. An extraordinary general meeting ("EGM") is required to be held when requested by more than 25% of unit owners or when necessary business is required to be completed under Section 89A of the Act. Current Covid-19 restrictions will limit bodies corporate from convening physical meetings of owners consistent with obligations under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 which requires bodies corporate to take all practicable steps to ensure the health and safety of any person attending body corporate meetings.

We have been fielding an unprecedented (but understandable) number of queries from both tenant and landlord clients wanting to understand the legal position in respect of either termination of commercial leases, and obligations in respect of rental/outgoings payments.

Real estate agents or salespersons seeking to challenge a Complaints Assessments Committee's finding of unsatisfactory conduct need now to be aware of a shortened appeal period.

KiwiSaver has almost two million members. As at 1 May 2012, approximately 340,000 of those members were aged between 25 and 34. One of the advantages of KiwiSaver for this age group and others who are in the first home market is the schemes to assist first home buyers. Members can apply for a first-home deposit subsidy of up to $5,000.00 and can withdraw all or part of their savings to put towards their deposit.