Landlord

You may be considering the purchase of a commercial property for either investment or occupational purposes.

Prior to acquiring the freehold interest of a property, you want to ensure that there are no unforeseen issues that may affect your reversionary interest.

A Pre-Acquisition Survey can be used to assess the general condition of the property, identify any significant defects or highlight property related issues that should be considered prior to freehold acquisition.

Our due diligence process could also reveal if there are any legal implications, sustainability issues relating to EPC’s, or whether the property is suitable for your business in terms of fit-out. Furthermore, we can offer budget costs for any of the issues we encounter and determine whether these costs can be recovered through an existing tenant.

The findings of the survey can assist you in making an informed decision, ultimately whether you proceed with the purchase, or use the findings to reduce the purchase price if significant issues are discovered.

A Vendors Survey is typically undertaken by commercial property owners prior to selling a property (disposal of the freehold interest). They are undertaken to satisfy the due-diligence requirements of the vendee.

The report provides transparent findings of the property that speeds up the purchase process and reduces initial costs for purchasers. The report can also highlight items to the vendor that could be dealt with prior to marketing the property, enabling sale prices to be maximised.

As part of our survey, we would undertake due-diligence and review the relevant technical and legal documentation. We would inspect the full internal and external elements (non-intrusive), provide a review of the M&E services (with specialist input recommended where deemed necessary), investigate any deleterious materials and assess environmental and energy performance matters.

Our reports are transparent and impartial, so if you are a purchaser, you are well informed of such issues before progressing with an offer.

When your tenant’s lease expiry is approaching or they have provided you with notice to break early, you want to ensure your property is in a condition appropriate with the relevant lease covenants to allow quick re-letting. Such covenants typically include reinstatement, repair, redecoration or compliance with relevant statutes.

A Schedule of Dilapidations can be served on the tenant that provides a summary of any breaches, their associated remedies and costs.

Depending on when the schedule is served, the tenant may have the right to undertake the work themselves. If served post lease expiry, the landlord’s only remedy is damages. We can act on your behalf during this process and if required, engage in negotiations with the tenant to reach a settlement.

Prior to the inspection of the premises, we would review the lease documentation to understand the relevant lease clauses, extent of demise and whether any specialist input (mechanical and electrical) should be considered.

Most commercial leases contain provisions to allow the tenant to undertake alteration works to the premises to suit their business requirements. Such requests can be made as part of early lease negotiations, or during the term.

As a landlord, it is important to consider these works as they may have a detrimental effect to the premises in terms of layout and value. Consideration of the works is also important with regards to dilapidations.

To provide transparency and a benchmark as to what works are proposed and eventually undertaken, a Licence for Alterations can be prepared by your legal advisors.

As part of the Licence for Alterations, the tenant should provide the works and specification that they intend to undertake. We can review these proposals and provide an initial assessment report that can be shared with your legal advisors. The report would highlight any considerations, implications or requirements that the tenant may need to adhere to on your behalf.

If required, we can then monitor these works on your behalf to ensure the works proposed and agreed to, are adhered to during construction.

Prior to entering into a new lease with a tenant, it is important that both landlord and tenant are fully aware of the demise. The demise can be defined as the area which is being leased.

There are various obligations that must be adhered to in order for the plan to be considered Land Registry compliant. We can provide Land Registry compliant plans to delineate which areas of the premises are related to the tenancy.

On occasion, the entire premises are not let, and retained parts remain under the obligation of the landlord. Such areas can be shown clearly in a floor plan which can be agreed by both parties and appended to the lease. This provides clarity to all parties and aids in the end of tenancy negotiations related to dilapidations.

Defects in property can develop at any time. They can be disruptive and incur significant costs depending on the extent of the fault(s). Typical defects may relate to water ingress, masonry cracking, concrete defects or timber decay.

Whether the issues have been apparent for some time or have just become evident, we can assist in diagnosing and providing recommendations to resolve your issues and put your premises back into good repair.

As a landlord, you want to ensure that your investment retains its value. The value can be influenced by many factors including the condition of the property.

A tool for ascertaining current or future issues with the property may be in the form of a Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) schedule. The schedule will review the condition of the building structure, fabric and building engineering services over a longer period of time, typically between 10-50 years.

By reviewing the conditions of the building elements over a longer period, a clearer picture can be ascertained into what budgets may be required for maintenance works.

There are various benefits, one of which provides the opportunity to prioritise works. If the cost of works is being reclaimed through a service charge, it allows tenants to forecast their own budgets. By providing transparent tenant communication, it helps maintain long-term relationships.

This can also reduce reactive maintenance contracts. Such reactive works could be undertaken in planned phased works, which will likely provide a better value for the same repairs.