Project
Tenant Dilapidations Surveyor
The tenant occupied a 172,000 sqft industrial unit and was approaching the end of a 20 year lease. The landlord had issued a £1.7m dilapidations claim against the tenant and our client required a surveyor to act on their behalf and negotiate settlement of the claim.
Challenges
- The landlord schedule was complex but was supported by technical inspections and condition reports, particularly for the building services.
- The landlord obtained contractors quotations for the dilapidation items and implemented the works after lease end, prior to settlement of the claim to strengthen their position.
Solution
Our expertise enabled us to utilise various strategies to mitigate the landlord claim, including use of diminution valuation consultants to support the tenant defence. Section 18 of the
Landlord and Tenant Act provides a means of contesting the face value of the dilapidations works, relying upon market values of the property to financially cap the landlord claim.
Detailed examination of the landlord claim items also provided opportunities to challenge the validity of the works included in the schedule, despite the certainty of cost that arose from the landlord undertaking the works. A 35% reduction in the claim value was secured for the tenant.
