DILAPIDATIONS

Dilapidations come into play when a landlord is to be compensated if the tenant has breached the agreed obligations set out in the original lease.

How you agree a lease when you first acquire premises will determine how you eventually exit it. Dilapidations and lease repairing clauses establish how you are to return the premises at the end of the lease and how you are to occupy  the premises during the term.

A breach of the repairing obligations could give rise to a dilapidations claim either being an ‘interim’ dilapidations claim, during the lease term or a ‘terminal’ dilapidations claim, at or after the end of the lease.

During the lease term and at the end of your lease the only document that directs both parties is the lease and associated documents, such as a Licence for Works or a Schedule of Condition, not what was assumed or briefly talked about on that first inspection.

It is therefore prudent that your surveyor has a good working knowledge of this niche area of surveying and hence moving out of a property is as important as moving in.

Dilapidations claims and disputes and the preparation of detailed schedules of dilapidations should be done by a Chartered Building Surveyor specialising in this area and we will advise on this and recommend companies we deal with on a regular basis.