From: Ethos, March 2099
Reviewed by Greg Badcock, Blake Dawson
Commercial and residential tenancies: The laws of Australia brings together 4 subtitles of The laws of Australia loose leaf encyclopaedia, "Landlord and Tenant", "Retail Tenancies", "Residential Tenancies" and "Retirement Villages" in a single (and bound) volume.
As its title suggests Commercial and residential tenancies: The laws of Australia, is not a
commentary on tenancy laws, but an elucidation of them. As the user’s guide to the book explains, Commercial and residential tenancies: The laws of Australia is organised in the same way as the loose leaf encyclopaedia – that is by numbered paragraphs, each of which contains a summary statement of legal principle and a clarification or exposition of that principle with reference to relevant case law and legislation for each Australian jurisdiction.
The book’s excellent setting out, including a user’s guide, the obligatory table of cases and
legislation, a well thought out and particularly thorough index – including a very handy index of
words and phrases - and bibliography makes it a very easy, and consequently quick, text to
navigate. The authors have done a very good job at evenly covering four very broad areas of law
and the clarifications and expositions of the legal principles they have provided are direct and
clearly written.
Moreover, where readers are left wanting more (either because their question demands a more
complex consideration of the legal principle than the book provides or because, for example, their
interest in the subtle distinctions between the covenant of quiet enjoyment and the covenant of
non-derogation from the grant cannot be satisfied in a couple of hundred words or less) the
references to case law, legislation and other secondary materials provide an excellent point of
departure.
Anything that the book may lack in detail or thoroughness, it makes up for in ease of access and
external referencing. Like all "bound" books, the text will suffer from developments in the case law
and changes in legislation in a way that its loose-leafed forebears (and electronic cousins) will not. However, for those working in the fields of residential and commercial leasing who are not inclined, for whatever reason, to subscribe to the many volumes of The laws of Australia, Commercial and residential tenancies provides a concise, useful and convenient reference.
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