As a tenant or occupier of a building, it is your responsibility to read your tenancy agreement and understand it thoroughly.

Within the agreement, there will be clauses that, if breached, will not only tarnish your relationship with your landlord and/or the owner of the property but could see you involved in a legal dispute.

If your landlord does alert you to a breach in your agreement, it is important that you understand what those breaches are and to what part of the clause within your agreement. After you understand what you have been accused of, it is important that you seek specialist dilapidations advice.

Schedules of Dilapidations

Similar to the start of a lease, when surveyors will provide a schedule of condition to verify the state of the property before the tenancy begins, your landlord will likely appoint a dilapidations surveyor at the end of your lease to prepare a detailed schedule of dilapidations. A schedule of dilapidations sets out areas where they believe you need to meet your lease obligations. The lease will state whether tenants should conduct repairs before they leave or whether the landlord can charge the tenants on expiry instead.

However, if you have time before your lease has expired, there will be an opportunity to find your own dilapidations surveyor to assess how accurate the landlord’s claims are in accordance with the lease.

The Dilapidations Protocol

Your landlord’s surveyor’s dilapidations schedule will be served under the Dilapidations Protocol (as part of the Civil Procedure Rules) set out by the Property Litigation Association, which is endorsed by the courts. This protocol states that the schedule must be served within a ‘reasonable’ time after the lease has ended, which is known to be 56 days. Following this protocol as closely as possible by acknowledging and acting on the schedule’s findings will put you in good standing if the dispute escalates further.

The protocol requires all parties to partake in clear communications, provide evidence for their stances, and try alternative dispute resolution (ADR) before resorting to litigation.

Financial Claims

The landlord may amend their claim on reassessment after your lease expiry, but there will most likely be an itemised cost for dealing with the dilapidations, as well as claims regarding loss of rent and professional fees. Loss of rent and professional fees may be claimed by the landlord but must be reasonable and justified. Under Section 18(1) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1927, the landlord cannot recover damages exceeding the actual loss or if the property is due for redevelopment.

We would always recommend getting a second opinion from your surveyor, as you may find that you have been overcharged or that they may have missed something from the claim that should be cleared up before it is escalated once more.

We feel that both tenants and landlords must work together to understand the claims made and find a common ground to base an agreement upon. All parties should meet without prejudice, hoping to reach a considered conclusion.

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