Top Tips for Tenant Dilapidations

Dilapidations represent the costs a tenant incurs to restore a property to its original state at the end of a lease. These costs can include repairing any wear and tear or damage, as well as undoing any alterations made by the tenant during their occupancy. Tenants often find these costs surprising and substantial when a landlord serves a schedule of dilapidations and costs claim at the lease's termination.

Here we provide ten tips for Tenants to consider and the common areas of dispute over dilapidations.

Ten top tips for Tenants

Common Areas of Dispute over Dilapidations

1. If a tenant has not completed the necessary repair works under their lease or complied with reinstatement obligations the landlord will issue a schedule of dilapidations outlining the works required under the contract.
2. A landlord can issue a schedule of dilapidations after lease end – this unhelpful
3. Are all the items of breach listed by the landlord’s surveyor really legitimate
4. What repairs and other works will need to be undertaken – the lease can be ambiguous
5. What constitutes an appropriate repair; eg require to ‘make good’ or replace
6. Whether any or all of the tenant’s alterations to the building really have to be reinstated
7. The distinction between ‘repair’ and ‘improvement’
8. Compliance with all break clause conditions – risk of invalidity
9. The landlord’s estimates of the cost of the remedial works in the schedule – inflated rates often used.
10. The future intentions of the landlord – full declaration required in some instances
11. Grounds for capping the landlords claim.

Understanding and preparing for dilapidations can help tenants manage these exit costs more effectively, reducing the financial shock at the end of their lease.