Docklands Solicitor

You are a tenant about to leave business premises and have just received a scary schedule of dilapidations from your landlord, itemising numerous alleged items of disrepair. You turn to the end and see the thousands of pounds that the landlord is seeking from you. Do not panic!

It may be just that the landlord’s surveyor went round the property and listed out everything that he thought should be done without regard to the terms of the lease.

Come to us and we will look through those terms and work out whether the item allegedly in disrepair is, in fact, an item which was leased to you under the lease. You may not have any responsibility for it at all.

Next, we look at the standard of repair to which you signed up. It may be that the surveyor is asking you to go beyond “mere repairing” and seeking to get back for the landlord something that he never had in the first place (“betterment”)

The context in which the lease was granted is often important, especially if the lease has been a long one. The area may have improved since the date of grant of the lease and this may work in your favour (and, unfortunately, for you, vice versa, if the neighbourhood has gone down market).

The landlord may not be able to force you to remedy inherent defects or design faults. There was one case where a basement flooded regularly and everyone agreed that something should be done about this. However, amazingly, everyone also agreed that no damage had been done to the fabric of the building, it was, therefore, not in disrepair and the court held that if there was no disrepair, the tenant could not be made to sort out the bad design or workmanship which allowed the flooding to happen.

All is not lost. Ring us now!

Michael Breeze Mobile: 07 900 195.195 email: mdb@kaslers.co.uk

Labels: landlord tenant lease dilapidations repair