Dilapidations And The End Of Leases

It's almost impossible to leave premises in absolutely perfect repair at the end of a lease. However the landlord's bill in response to the dilapidations, or wants of repair, often comes as a shock to tenants.

The good news is that there are legal limits on the amounts a landlord can charge. There's no right to charge dilapidations if the building is about to be demolished, or if any works you do would be made redundant by the landlord's plans. For example, if you need to leave the building façade in repair, but the landlord would re-render the whole façade in order to re-let the building, the façade repair works shouldn't be in the schedule of dilapidations. The next step is to consider what, exactly, is meant by "repair". There's no need to return lifts and air conditioning apparatus with any type of life expectancy, unless the lease expressly requires this. The key to unpicking the types of liability is a careful forensic analysis of the lease and any licences for