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Commercial property landlords are losing out on thousands of pounds in repair bills, warns Worcestershire commercial property consultancy GJS Dillon.

Mark Davies, Director of Building Surveying Services at GJS Dillon, which has offices in Droitwich, Worcester and Bromsgrove, says that many landlords are failing to get their tenants to pay fully for repairs at the end of a lease, so that they can re-let their buildings quickly and cost-effectively.

He says: “We find that some landlords, especially those who might be new to owning commercial buildings, either do not know that the tenant should carry out all dilapidations works, which is basically reinstatement, repair and re-decoration of the property, or what sums they can reasonably charge to carry out this work if the tenant fails to do it.

“We recently saved a landlord more than £90,000 on a repair bill at the end of a lease, by assessing the costs of the dilapidations and demonstrating the tenant’s contractual responsibility to pay.

“We prepared a Schedule of Dilapidations for the landlord and advised when this should be sent to the tenant to give him time to carry out the repairs before the end of the lease, or to pay the landlord to carry out the work.”

According to Mr Davies, using a building surveyor for advice on all dilapidations matters can save landlords time and money. He says: “We ensure everything we do for a landlord follows the Dilapidations Protocol, so that if we cannot agree a figure for repairs with the tenant, then we can move swiftly to resolving the dispute legally.-

“Getting the dilapidations process right helps minimise landlords’ repair bills and ensures properties are able to be quickly re-let, protecting the returns on property investments,” concludes Mr Davies.