According to the Australian Business with the Wall Street Journal, Australian retailers, following the lead of US and British counterparts, are demanding Australia’s biggest shopping centre landlords giving rent holidays and reduce fees under the threat of closing their stores.

Rent breaks or store closures would severely eat into the profit forecasts of the worlds biggest shopping centre owner, Westfield Group, and others such as the troubled Centro Properties Group, the Commonwealth Bank-managed CFS Retail Property Trust, GPT, Lend Lease, AMP and Macquarie CountryWide Trust.

About 30% of the leases of Australian Retailers Association’s (ARA) 5,000 members would come up for renewal this year.

Retailers around the world are suffering as consumers rein in spending in the recession.

In the US, a plethora of tenants have demanded rent relief. Some, such as Blockbuster, have sent open letters to their landlords demanding rental reductions and threatening to not renew leases.

In the UK, a report in the Financial Times said some retailers in Westfield’s flagship London centre were refusing to pay part of the service charges. The report said the backlash was led by Next fashion chain, which refused to pay part of the charge after Westfield increased fees to £14 sq ft from earlier guidance of £8.50 sq ft shortly after the opening of the centre.