Metcalfe Briggs Surveyors was asked to represent the landlord of a 1970s industrial estate of 16 units in Gillingham, Kent.
All the leases were coming to an end and the estate had a motley collection of tenants, some being in occupation under official sub-leases or sub-underleases and others on unofficial licence terms.
Considerable care was needed to ensure that the correct parties were identified. We carefully surveyed all 16 units and then prepared separate schedules for each, combining where necessary where the same tenant occupied several units.
Some tenants opted to undertake the Schedule of Dilapidations works and others to reach financial settlement, some of them vacating and others remaining in occupation. In order to follow through the dilapidations to a conclusion, it was necessary to monitor compliance of those who elected to undertake the work and to negotiate financial settlement with the others.
Resolution of the dilapidations enabled the landlord to ensure that the value of his investment was maintained and to grant new leases to new tenants or those remaining, satisfied that past neglect had been dealt with and ensuring a positive future for the estate.