Identify the Ladbroke Grove commercial unit within the terrace or mews
RBKC's Ladbroke appraisal describes crescents and terraces arranged around the hill, with mews buildings forming a different scale behind principal streets. Where commercial premises occupy part of this fabric, the dilapidations brief should identify the exact unit and current arrangement on the lease plan. Mark the floors, entrance, retained exterior elements and any shared spaces rather than assign a standard terrace-house specification to every business. The appraisal describes historical character, not the present tenancy or its repair covenants. Obtain the executed lease and relevant supplemental records before treating a roof, return wall, garden edge or service route as the tenant's responsibility.
Compare the original letting information with later fit-out and alteration documents. A mews interior, a terrace upper part and a ground-floor unit may have different installation and reinstatement questions even where they share the Ladbroke Grove label. Identify partitions, signage, equipment and altered openings separately, with the applicable licence and notice position considered for each. Do not assume that a direct door into a garden makes the adjoining land part of the demise. A complete schedule should distinguish the physical component, the alleged obligation and the evidence of who carried out the change, rather than use one broad instruction to remove all non-original work.
Local evidence: RBKC: adopted Ladbroke appraisal, October 2015, sections 2.1–2.15 and 2.25–2.29.
Include the designed return elevation when defining the repair item
The appraisal identifies end elevations on Ladbroke Grove and Kensington Park Road designed as principal frontages. If a commercial lease claim includes such a face, identify its openings, materials and junctions expressly rather than bury it in an undefined side-wall allowance. Record the observed condition and distinguish repair, decoration and replacement. A treatment proposed for the street face should not automatically establish the extent around the corner. Where the substrate or retained detail is uncertain, obtain suitable investigation or advice and explain the unresolved question. The architectural prominence of the face does not prove a defect or a covenant covering every component.
State whether the inspection concerns an interim schedule during occupation, a terminal schedule near expiry or the final position after departure and agreed work. Record any change in condition or completion evidence through dated revisions. RICS dilapidations guidance provides the framework for the professional schedule and response, including the connection between alleged obligations and proposed remedies. For mechanical and electrical installations, identify the equipment and available maintenance records within the agreed scope. Reinstatement of a tenant's installation should remain distinct from remedying deterioration to retained fabric, with the legal adviser addressing the relevant lease provisions and any notice requirements where those are disputed.
Local evidence: RBKC: adopted Ladbroke appraisal, October 2015, sections 2.1–2.15 and 2.25–2.29; RICS: Dilapidations in England and Wales.
Compare the landlord's Ladbroke scheme with the components claimed
Ask for the actual proposal if the landlord plans to reconfigure the premises, replace an elevation or undertake a wider mews refurbishment. Locate its effects on the present schedule, distinguishing elements retained in use from work that the scheme would remove. A historic account of terrace or mews character cannot establish that a conversion is available, that a future occupier requires a particular specification or that a project will proceed. Use the applicable current address records and decision documents, keeping an option separate from an instructed scheme. The tenant's supersession position should identify the material relied upon and the individual items said to be affected.
Section 18(1) limits damages for breach of a repairing covenant by the resulting diminution in the value of the reversion. It also addresses demolition or structural alterations at or shortly after lease termination that would make the relevant repairs valueless. This is not an automatic cap on every category of a dilapidations claim. Obtain the appropriate legal and valuation assessment for the facts. Supersession should be considered against the landlord's evidenced intentions and the particular work claimed; a repair-cost total is not, by itself, proof of the loss to be demanded.
Local evidence: RBKC: adopted Ladbroke appraisal, October 2015, sections 2.1–2.15 and 2.25–2.29; RBKC: conservation appraisals and adoption dates; Landlord and Tenant Act 1927, section 18; Civil Procedure Rules: Dilapidations Protocol.
Support garden and narrow-mews access costs with an agreed method
The appraisal describes communal gardens behind many terraces and narrow mews streets, predominantly cul-de-sacs, with Ladbroke Walk and Lansdowne Mews among the open-ended exceptions. For a claimed rear-elevation repair, establish the actual gates, boundaries, control and permission for equipment or storage. A garden door or open-ended street is not evidence of unrestricted contractor use. Measure the proposed route and working footprint, account for the hill's changing levels and identify protection and reinstatement. The estimate should explain the method for this property, not transfer a neighbour's scaffold arrangement or assume that the communal garden is included in the leased premises.
Retain detailed estimates or invoices for those operations with the relevant repair references in the Quantified Demand. Explain any allowance still dependent on an outstanding agreement and separate costs serving the alleged breach from costs of a landlord improvement. The tenant's itemised response should make the nature of each dispute clear, whether it concerns obligation, condition, extent, rate or supersession. The terminal protocol distinguishes the supported likely loss from simply adding work prices. Keep the landlord's intentions, access assumptions and inspection updates with the negotiation record so that agreed exclusions and revised sums remain traceable to the evidence for the actual Ladbroke Grove premises.
Local evidence: RBKC: adopted Ladbroke appraisal, October 2015, sections 2.1–2.15 and 2.25–2.29; Civil Procedure Rules: Dilapidations Protocol.
Ladbroke Grove lease-end questions
Does a Ladbroke Grove garden door establish a tenant's access or repair obligation?
No. Check the demise, lease provisions and current arrangements controlling the garden and route. The appraisal describes the historic layout; it does not grant contractor access, storage rights or responsibility for every adjoining element.
Should a designed return face be hidden within a side-wall allowance?
Identify the face, openings and retained details explicitly where they form part of the claim. Describe the observed condition, proposed treatment and quantity, and distinguish that operation from work to the principal street elevation.
Does a proposed mews reconfiguration establish the amount recoverable?
No. Obtain the actual scheme and evidence of intention, then assess its effect on the claimed works. Repair prices, supersession and the statutory repairing-covenant limit need to be considered on the relevant facts, with legal and valuation advice where required.
Can an open-ended Ladbroke mews automatically accommodate repair equipment?
The current route, dimensions, users and permissions still need checking. Show the actual working footprint, protection and handling method, and substantiate its costs. A historic description of the street does not confirm a temporary work arrangement.
Related guidance: London dilapidations advice; lease condition records; licence to alter.
Ladbroke Grove Schedule of Dilapidations Enquiry (From £1,250 plus VAT)
Content updated: October 2026.