Dilapidations

Commercial Tenants are usually under contractual obligations through repairing covenants under the Lease they have signed and, in any event, may be under statutory obligations to repair and make good a property on yielding up.  This gives rise to disputes where Landlords and Commercial Tenants disagree on the extent of repairs required and who is responsible for the repairs being undertaken.  We are here to provide clarity as to where you stand in those circumstances.

Common breaches of covenant that we advise on include:

• Breach of Repairing Covenants
• Breach of Decorating Covenants
• Breach of Covenant to comply with a specific statute
• Breach of Covenant to Yield Up and any related obligations in which the Tenant is required to leave the property in a specific state of repair at the end of the term
• Reinstatement requirements that relate to alterations made by the Tenant

The type of issues that we advise on often involve obligations set out in a Lease, but obligations are also present in ancillary documentation, such as Schedules of Conditions, Licences to Alter or Deeds of Variation.

The remedies available to a Landlord will depend on the specific circumstances of the Lease and whether or not the term has expired.  Certain statutory restrictions on the Landlord’s remedies exist for breach of covenant.  There may also be practical considerations for Landlords to consider when taking enforcement action.  These will include:

• Establishing the extent of any breach including conditions on the Landlord having access to the property, the appointment of a surveyor and then the Landlord revisiting the property (as soon as possible after the expiration of the term) to see the work that has been done
• Dealing with a Commercial Tenant that does not respond to a request for access and whether or not this in itself is a breach of covenant
• Consideration as to what amounts to a “reasonable time” for the Commercial Tenant to make repairs
• Any delays that may be caused by compliance with the relevant Pre Action Protocol
• The recoverability of legal and other costs under the Lease
• Issuing of reinstatement notices (and timing of the same) in respect of Commercial Tenant alterations

Our clients includes substantial real estate Funds, sophisticated Landlords with large property portfolios, Developers and Commercial Tenants including retail, restaurant and leisure chains.

Our expert team are hugely experienced in advising Commercial Landlords and Commercial Tenants on dilapidation process, responsibilities and disputes.  We provide pragmatic advice to enable you to make sound business decisions and achieve the best outcome possible.

If you are a Commercial Landlord or Commercial Tenant facing a dilapidations issue, get in touch and we will be happy to assist you.

Get in touch

Get in touch using the contact form below, calling us on 0204 579 8686 or emailing us at contactus@ridgemont.co. 

Why Ridgemont?

Ridgemont’s team is made up of expert senior solicitors, all of whom previously worked in “Big Law” (i.e. the top 50 law firms in the UK).

We provide bespoke advice tailored to your needs.  Our advice is commercial and pragmatic, enabling you to use it effectively to make business decisions.

We have an expert understanding of real estate law. We can guide you through the maze of dilapidations.

We are user-friendly.  Our lawyers speak in plain English, providing service levels akin to “Big Law”. We have built our processes to make onboarding as pain-free as possible. Our fee earner structure means that you have access to a partner-level solicitor at all times and they will always be on top of your matter.

We operate our business in an ethical way.  That means we think about what the “right thing to do” is when making a business decision.  As an example, we do not charge a default unit of time for incoming emails or letters as we think we ought to be paid for work done, not for merely receiving correspondence. We are also open and transparent on what we charge, meaning our clients never receive a surprising invoice.

We provide “Big Law” service levels and quality of advice, with expert senior solicitors providing commercial, pragmatic advice. Necessarily, that does not come cheap as we have to invest in great lawyers and everything they need to do their job. However, due to us having comparatively lower overheads to “Big Law” firms, we are able to charge less than they would for providing the same service levels and advice.

We are proactive in finding innovative ways to advise our clients in a cost proportionate way.

Who we act for?

We act for commercial Landlords and commercial tenants.  We also act for Prime Central London residential tenants.

Your journey with us

1. Get in touch using the contact form below, calling us on 0203 909 9590 or emailing us at contactus@ridgemont.co
2. We guarantee that we will be in touch with you the same day to listen to your needs and to explain how we can help and the likely cost.
3. Assuming you wish to engage us, we will then onboard you as a client, which normally takes a matter of hours.
4. From there, you will be assigned an experienced solicitor who will have conduct of your matter from cradle to grave and be available to speak to you and responsive to emails at every juncture.

You can learn more about our journey by watching these videos.