Dilapidations - agreeing tenant and landlord responsibilities

Items of disrepair can often give rise to claims for damages under the provisions of a typical lease. It is therefore usual for both parties to agree how the tenant should yield up the premises, including the state of repair, redecoration, maintenance and the removal of any tenant's alterations.

At lease expiry time for the tenant, our specialist team always attempt to take the sting out of any potential dilapidations claim by sending clear signals to the landlord confirming exactly how our client intends to proceed. Once the initial contact is made, we work tirelessly to ensure an amicable negotiation with the landlord and ensure that any likely disputes over tenant's improvements/alterations are resolves at the offset.

For the landlord, Ridley Thaw appreciate the financial significance of having to refurbish the property at the end of the lease. As such, our lease advisory team work very closely with our property management team to ensure opportunities are not missed to renew the lease at the offset of serving the Section 25 Notice to terminate the current lease. With this in mind, the terminal schedule of dilapidations is always presented to the tenant in a timely fashion and where possible, the schedule is used as leverage to agree a new lease. Assuming there is no prospect of a renewal, our attention turns to ensuring the property is delivered up promptly with the minimal amount of fuss; ready to be re-let at the end of the lease.

In the event that we are unable to negotiate an amicable settlement for both parties, Section 18 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1927 limits the tenant's liability and this is an area of law that some parties are not fully aware of. Section 18 can provide, under some circumstances, a defence against sizeable dilapidations costs. In conjunction with our Building Surveying partners, we are experienced in advising on the dilapidations liability at the expiry of a lease and in the preparation of Section 18 valuations.

In the event that a satisfactory settlement cannot be achieved by negotiation, the matter can be resolved through the courts and we have an established track record in this area.