Dilapidations for Tenants

With market leading expertise and negotiation experience we manage dilapidations costs for tenants ensuring you pay no more than you need to.

We also advise tenants on how much they should be putting away to cover such obligations at lease end as well as point out timescales, risk and advice. It’s all about being prepared and we can even help you claim tax relief on the cost of dilapidations too.

When a tenant takes a commercial lease, there will typically be obligations for repair, maintenance, and decorations during the term. These are typically known as dilapidations.

Many tenants ignore or overlook these requirements during their lease as their priority is growing and sustaining their business.

Receipt of a dilapidations schedule and claim from the landlord can be an unpleasant shock.

It is imperative to ensure your business is prepared where possible and represented by experienced dilapidations surveyors so that your interests are represented and you can mitigate your losses to the greatest extent.

Dilapidations for Tenants - Managing Dilapidations during the term of the lease

Always have in mind your repairing obligations while you are still in the property; do not leave them until the end of the lease term.

Addressing issues on an ongoing basis will hopefully minimise the obligation and cost at the end.

Also bear in mind that a properly prepared provision for a future dilapidations liability is allowable as a deduction from a company’s tax computation. This could reduce the tax burden of a company during the term of a lease.

Towards the end of the lease, your landlord is likely to commission a dilapidations surveyor to prepare a detailed schedule setting out the areas where they believe you need to meet your lease obligations

Initially this will be served on you and, if you have time before you vacate, this is an opportunity for you to carry out those works or instruct your own dilapidations surveyor to assess the merit of the claim in line with the terms of the lease

It is important to seek experience specialist dilapidations advice. Just because the landlord’s surveyor says something needs to be done, that does not mean it does. Seek advice at an early stage on what you need to do.

Dilapidations once the lease has ended

When you leave the premises, the landlord will re-assess the property and may amend its claim.

At this stage, it is likely that the claim will include an overall figure (broken down into stages) for the cost of dealing with the dilapidations.

Again, do not take the figure as gospel. We will be able to advise you on what is a reasonable figure or not.

The claim is likely to include a claim for loss of rent and professional fees. The latter being a cost that the lease will normally require you to pay.

The dilapidations schedule will normally be served under the protocol set out by the Property Litigation Association and endorsed by the courts. This should be served within a reasonable period of time (normally 56 days) after the lease has ended. It is advisable to ensure that you follow the protocol as closely as possible

The protocol will require you and your surveyor to respond in full within 56 days of receipt of the schedule. If agreement cannot be reached we will enter into a constructive dialogue with the landlord and its surveyor to try and reach agreement

Dilapidations for Tenants - How we can help

Negotiation is usually able to resolve any discrepancies or disagreements between landlords and tenants in dilapidation cases. Any conversation about dilapidations is typically technical and complex. Professional advice at the outset from our experienced team can greatly support your cause.

Dilapidations for Tenants - Our team are highly experienced in helping tenants with the following key services :

- Dilapidations liability assessments in order to make financial provision in company accounts (and save money…)

- Lease and dilapidations claim reviews, inspections of properties and dilapidations advice

- Lease exit strategy advice

- Managing loss mitigation dilapidations works for tenants

- Negotiating down and achieving best possible savings to original landlords’ claims

- Advising on appropriateness of diminution valuations

Dilapidations for Tenants - Further Guidance

For further information on a range of Dilapidations subjects, see our recent articles below :

Also, check out our recent work on Dilapidations at the M58 Business Park

Contact

To book a call back from a member of the Dilapidations team or for any advice on our other Building Consultancy services, please fill in our Contact Us form.

With offices in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, Norwich & Plymouth we provide advice on dilapidations all around the UK.

For further information see our Dilapidations Fact Sheet.