Tenants urged to swot up on dilaps
Tenants and lessees are being advised to swot up on their rights to avoid a hefty dilapidations bill when selling their pub.
Cookseys DMP managing director David Morgan said many lessees are forking out huge chunks of money to comply with schedules of dilapidations, simply because they are unaware of their rights.
"Dilapidations in leases are a nightmare for the tenant," he said.
"The financial consequences can be enormous and heavily eat into the capital asset that the tenant or lessee thought that they would have on their departure from the premises."
A dilapidations claim is either served at the end of a lease as a terminal schedule or during the course of a lease as an interim schedule should the leasehold interest be the subject of an assignment.
The rules on schedules of dilapidations have recently been changed to the benefit of the tenant under protocol issued by the Property Litigation Association in September 2006 and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors new Dilapidations Guidance Note of July 2007.
But Morgan believes many authors of dilapidations schedules are simply unaware of the new protocols.
"I have found that very few qualified surveyors who are the authors of the dilapidations schedules fully understand either the protocol or the guidance notes which have far reaching effects on the conduct of the landlord and the opportunities for a sound defence against an unreasonable claim."
He added: "It is vital to know your rights and seek expert assistance if required."
Morgan has put together an advice sheet and case study examples exclusively for MA readers, which you can download here - Dilapidations Advice Sheet.
