Property dispute solicitors

Dilapidations

Dilapidations is a shorthand way of referring to the breaches of the tenant’s obligations in a lease that relate to the physical state of the premises. When a claim is made, it's important to involve a specialist dilapidations solicitor.

A dilapidations claim most frequently occurs when a tenant is found to be in breach of the obligations (known as “covenants”) outlined in their lease. Dilapidations claim are most commonly issued by a landlord at the end of a lease, however dilapidations claims can also be made during the continuation of the lease, subject to certain statutory requirements.

Most commercial leases will impose covenants that require the tenant to keep the premises in a particular state of repair and condition. There are also likely to be covenants that require the tenant to reinstate any alterations made to the premises, to comply with statutes and to return the premises to the landlord with vacant possession.

Dilapidations claims can be complicated for a variety of reasons. The standard or repair and the scope of the covenant vary from case to case, depending on the particular wording of the lease and the facts and circumstances in each case. The nature of the breach is also the subject of dispute and conflicting expert opinions. On top of this, there are important statutes which regulate dilapidations claim and displace the normal rules of contract law.

It can seem like a murky area of law. However, Morr & Co's team of specialist property solicitors regularly advise both landlord and tenants on these issues and we are well placed to assist in these cases.

Please contact one of the team for more information or to discuss your requirements.

Here are some resources to help landlords and tenants understand more about dilapidations claims and how to do deal with them. Please contact a member of our team if you would like any further information.

Kristine Ng, Property Dispute Resolution Specialist

Kristine Ng

Partner

Dispute Resolution

Quick Enquiry

Make an enquiry

Whether you need a quote, have a question, or would like to get in touch with one of our team, please fill out the form below and someone will get back to you as soon as possible.

Please choose from the below options so that we can direct your enquiry to the right team member

Sorry, we do not provide criminal law advice.

You may wish to contact your local Citizens Advice Bureau or your local Law Centre, who will be able to help you find support.

Sorry, we do not provide advice on consumer disputes.

You may wish to contact your local Citizens Advice Bureau or your local Law Centre, who will be able to help you find support.

Sorry, we do not provide advice on benefits related disputes.

You may wish to contact your local Citizens Advice Bureau or your local Law Centre, who will be able to help you find support.


Please note that we are currently only providing this service to our existing clients.

You should bear in mind that if your dispute is valued at less than £10,000 you will not be able to recover your legal fees from your opponent.

You may wish to consider consulting the Citizens Advice Bureau or your local Law Centre as an alternative.

In order to enable us to give you an accurate estimate of our likely costs to advise you, we will need to review the key documents. As a guide, our costs for reviewing the key documents and giving you initial advice are likely to be in the region of £1,750+VAT.

Before we can confirm whether we are able to act for you, we need to carry out a conflict check to make sure that we have not previously acted for your opponent.

Assuming our conflict check is clear, we will contact you to arrange a time for you to speak to one of our solicitors. Please can you confirm that you still wish to proceed with this enquiry. *

Our fees for debt recovery work typically start at £1,750 + VAT, so it is unlikely that we would be able to help you on this occasion. You may wish to contact the Citizens Advice Bureau or your local law centre, who may be able to help resolve your issue.

We are sorry that we are not able to help you on this occasion.

You may wish to contact the Citizens Advice Bureau or your local law centre, who may be able to help resolve your issue.

If your claim relates to an incident that took place more than 4 years ago, you may not be able to bring a claim unless you were under 18 years old at the time.

We are sorry, but it is unlikely that we are able to help you with your claim on this occasion.

You may wish to contact the Citizens Advice Bureau or your local law centre, who will be able to help you find support.

View our privacy policy regarding website enquiries.

Our contact form is currently down, please send your enquiry to [email protected] or call us on '01737 854 500'