Dilapidations

Poorly maintained external wall

Poorly maintained external wall

Are you a tenant and have you had a schedule of Dilapidations served on you by your landlord?

Are you a landlord concerned about your tenant breaching the repair covenants of their lease?

In either case you are likely to require the services of a surveyor experienced in dilapidations procedures.

 

 

What are Dilapidations?
All leases have obligations on a landlord or tenant to keep a property in a certain state of repair and decoration. Dilapidations refer to a state of repair and decorative order that falls below the level required by the lease.

Near or at the end of a lease when a tenant leaves the leased premises, they are usually bound by the terms of the lease to undertake repairs or pay for any defects or items of disrepair. These defects and disrepairs are what are meant by dilapidations.

A Schedule of Dilapidations
At any time during the lease term, but usually near the end of the lease, a surveyor will be appointed by the landlord to assess the condition of the premises and form a schedule of dilapidations.

NOTE: A surveyor can provide a Schedule of Condition at the commencement of a lease in order to make a clear record of the condition of the property to avoid contentious claims for repair at a later date.

The schedule of dilapidations will list out the defective elements of the building, cross referenced against the lease covenants that have been breached and provide a cost breakdown of repairs.

A terminal schedule will usually also list costs for surveyors fees, legal fees and loss of rent. The resulting claim for costs can in some instances be very high.

Another surveyor will usually be appointed by the tenant to make an assessment on their behalf to reduce the cost of the claim. It will be down to the two surveyors to negotiate and agree the full cost of the claim and bring about a smooth negotiation between landlord and tenant.

RMA Surveyors Ltd are experienced in acting on behalf of Landlords and Tenants.

For more information, visit our Dilapidations page or call 01635 579208 to discuss your query.

More Rain Coming. West Berkshire braced for further flooding

Filling Sandbags at Chieveley West Berkshire

Filling Sandbags at Chieveley West Berkshire

Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service have been tweeting that they are very busy with flood related incidents, including a rescue from a house in Ouseley Road, Wraysbury. The Windsor Observer reports that 20,000 sandbags are to be distributed to properties in the Datchet and Wraysbury area. More sandbags are being filled in Chieveley as West Berkshire braces itself for more heavy rain.

If you are unfortunate enough to suffer from flooding and feel a little overwhelmed as to how you will get back to normal please contact us. It is worth remembering your insurance policy usually allows you to appoint your own Chartered Building Surveyor to project management reinstatement works on your behalf. In our experience flood victims can become further stressed by the flood repairs process; having to deal with overworked, under resourced insurance loss adjusters and their in-house surveyors. In periods where many properties are affected these individuals are often difficult to contact and do not have adequate time to devote to their clients.

We are qualified and experienced in flood reinstatement works and we never take on more work than we can manage. We will provide you with peace of mind and ensure your property is returned back to normal as swiftly as possible. We will liaise directly with your loss adjuster, so you don’t have to.