Dilapidations Surveyors London for Landlords & Tenants

A schedule of dilapidations is a document that sets out a tenant's alleged breaches of the repairing, decoration and reinstatement obligations in a commercial lease, and the works or costs the landlord claims. It is the technical basis for a dilapidations claim and is usually prepared by a building surveyor against the specific lease covenants.

An interim schedule is served during the lease term, where the landlord wants breaches remedied before lease end. A terminal schedule is prepared at or shortly after lease expiry and deals with the final position. The strategy and the available remedies differ between the two, so the type of schedule matters.

Yes. We advise both landlords and tenants, subject to conflict checks, and tailor the strategy to the client's commercial position. Acting on both sides over time means we understand how the other side will assess a claim, which helps reach a realistic settlement.

Section 18 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1927 caps the landlord's damages by the diminution in value of the reversion: in plain terms, the loss in the building's value caused by the breaches. Where the works are unlikely to be carried out, for example because the landlord intends to redevelop, the cap can be significantly lower than the cost of the works, so it is important to assess it.

Yes. A properly prepared, dated and signed schedule of condition, correctly referenced in the lease, can limit the tenant's repairing obligation to the recorded condition. Where the schedule is incomplete, undated or unsigned it may not be effective, so we assess its evidential weight early in the matter.

A schedule of dilapidations sets out the alleged breaches and the works required. A quantified demand attaches costs to each item and is the form most terminal claims take. The underlying schedule remains the technical basis, and the costed demand is what is negotiated.

Costs are assessed item by item against the lease covenants, allowing for the tenant's actual obligation, the standard required, betterment and any works already covered elsewhere. We then consider the Section 18 cap and the landlord's intentions for the building, because both can materially change the recoverable figure.

Many claims settle by negotiation rather than proceeding to formal dispute resolution, but a fair settlement depends on robust technical evidence. A well-prepared schedule and a realistic assessment of the cap and the landlord's intentions are what allow a proportionate settlement to be reached.

No. Items already recovered through the service charge cannot also be claimed as dilapidations, as that would be double recovery. Identifying this overlap is an important part of a tenant response and protects the tenant from paying twice for the same works.

Yes. Where a claim is not resolved by negotiation, we can act as expert witness or single joint expert subject to conflict checks, with reports prepared to the relevant Civil Procedure Rules Part 35 standard and the duty to the tribunal or court.

A tenant should take advice well before lease expiry, ideally when a break option or lease end is approaching, and immediately on receiving a schedule or quantified demand. Early advice often reduces the claim by identifying items that are out of scope, betterment, time-barred or already covered.

Supersession is where works the landlord intends to carry out, for example a refurbishment or redevelopment, would make some of the tenant's repairs unnecessary. Where a breach would have been overtaken by the landlord's own scheme, the recoverable loss for those items is usually reduced or removed; this affects the measure of damages and links closely to the Section 18 assessment of the diminution in the reversion. Establishing the landlord's genuine intentions for the building, with supporting evidence, is often central to a proportionate terminal claim, so we typically assess it early alongside the schedule.

The Dilapidations Protocol is the Pre-Action Protocol for Claims for Damages in Relation to the Physical State of Commercial Property at Termination of a Tenancy. It sets out how the parties are expected to exchange the schedule, the quantified demand and the tenant's response, and to try to resolve matters before court proceedings. A surveyor's endorsement of the schedule, confirming the listed works are reasonably required and that account has been taken of the landlord's intentions, is usually part of the process; diminution in value is addressed separately, often by a valuation report. Following the protocol typically keeps a claim focused and evidence based, supporting a proportionate settlement rather than litigation.