When a commercial tenant’s lease ends in Winchester, the condition in which they leave your property bears directly on its value and on how readily it can be re-let or sold, a consideration that carries particular weight in a city of characterful and often historic buildings. Bressummer A.R.K. are RICS chartered building surveyors based on the edge of the city at Hursley, acting for commercial landlords, investors and asset managers across Winchester and Hampshire. We prepare and negotiate dilapidations claims that recover the genuine cost of a tenant’s breaches, combining local knowledge of the city’s building stock with rigorous, defensible claim preparation.

Why Winchester landlords need expert dilapidations advice

A dilapidations claim is your means, as a landlord, of recovering the cost of remedying a tenant’s breaches of their repairing, decorating and reinstatement covenants at the end of the lease. In Winchester, where much commercial property is older, period or listed and held on full repairing and insuring (FRI) terms, the issues can be more involved than elsewhere, since the cost of properly reinstating or repairing historic fabric can be considerable. The sums at stake are therefore often significant. But a claim only achieves its purpose if it is properly prepared: a schedule that overreaches, misjudges what the lease requires on a period building, or lacks evidence will be reduced by the tenant’s surveyor and recover far less than it should. Our role is to prepare a claim that is accurate, well-evidenced and defensible, securing you the maximum you are genuinely entitled to.

How much does a dilapidations surveyor cost in Winchester?

Our fees are usually structured in two stages.

  1. The initial schedule
  2. Negotiation of claim

Stage 1 – Initial review and response

For producing an interim or terminal dilapidations schedule in Winchester our fees are mainly linked to the property size, as outlined in the table below.

Property Size (sq ft) Estimated Fees (exclusive of VAT)
Under 1,000 < £1,200
1,000 – 2,000 £1,200 – £1,500
2,000 – 5,000 £1,500 – £2,000
5,000 – 10,000 £2,000 – £3,000
10,000 + £2,500+

Stage 2 – Negotiations

This stage entails professional representation for Landlords in discussing and negotiating the claim with the Tenant and/or their appointed surveyors or agents. We typically charge our fees for this stage on a percentage fee of between 5 and 10% of the final agreed settlement figure or on an hourly rate of £185 per hour (plus VAT).

All our fees are fully inclusive of travel, office and disbursement costs in order to carry out our services, with no ‘hidden extras’.

Bressummer A.R.K. surveyors talking through a dilapidations claim on a commercial property in Southampton.

Don’t leave value on the table, talk to us about your lease end dilapidation requirements.

It’s good to talk.

It’s important, in order for us to understand your requirements from the outset in order to give the best commercial building consultancy advice we can.

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Chartered building surveyor meeting with their client in Andover

We contacted Bressummer A.R.K. to carry out a dilapidation survey on one of our rental units, from the initial contact through to receiving the report, the communication was first class, the day before the survey we had to notify Bressummer A.R.K. that we needed to reschedule, this wasn’t an issue for them, they were able to fit us in within a few days of the original date.

We would highly recommend this company and will most certainly use them again for future surveys.

Simon White - New Barn Holdings

Our dilapidations services for Winchester landlords

We provide the full range of landlord-side dilapidations services. We prepare interim schedules of dilapidations during the lease term, where a tenant’s neglect needs addressing before lease end; terminal schedules at or near lease end, setting out the breaches and the cost of remedying them; and quantified demands served in line with the Dilapidations Protocol. We negotiate directly with the tenant or their surveyor to secure the best recoverable settlement, and can advise through to dispute resolution where matters cannot be settled. We also advise on your commercial options at lease end, whether to require the works, accept a financial settlement, or factor the condition into a re-letting, sale or refurbishment, so your decision is informed by sound surveying advice.

Recovering the value in your asset

For a landlord or investor, dilapidations is ultimately about protecting the value of the asset. A building handed back in poor repair is worth less, is slower to re-let or sell, and may need significant expenditure before it can return to the market, an issue that can be especially acute with older Winchester buildings. A well-handled dilapidations claim either secures the funds to put the property right or compensates you for the diminution in its value, restoring the position the lease entitles you to. We help Winchester landlords treat dilapidations as a genuine opportunity to recover value, pursued with rigour and commercial good sense.

Who we act for in Winchester

We act for the full range of property owners across Winchester, including private and commercial landlords, property investors, pension funds and institutional owners, and the asset and property managers acting on their behalf. Whether you own a single let building in the city centre or a portfolio across the area, we bring the same rigorous, commercially minded approach, delivered by a surveyor who knows the local stock. We never act for both landlord and tenant on the same claim, so when we act for you, our focus is entirely on your interest.

Two chartered building surveys discussing an RCA survey.

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When to instruct us

The best time to take advice is well before the lease ends, ideally twelve to eighteen months ahead, so that an interim or terminal schedule can be prepared in good time and served at the optimal moment under the Protocol. Early advice also lets you plan strategically, whether your aim is to have the tenant carry out the works, recover a settlement, or take the property back for refurbishment, which is a common course with Winchester’s period buildings. That said, if a lease has recently ended or is about to, it is rarely too late for us to act. The key point for any Winchester landlord is not to let a tenant’s breaches go unaddressed, because an unclaimed dilapidations liability is value lost from your asset.

What a Winchester landlord can recover

A well-prepared claim typically covers the cost of remedying disrepair to the structure and fabric, including roofs, walls, windows and floors; making good damage and wear beyond fair wear and tear; redecoration where the lease requires it; the reinstatement of alterations the tenant made under licence; and the removal of fit-out, signage and equipment. On Winchester’s period and listed buildings, claims often properly include the careful repair of historic fabric to an appropriate standard, which can be more costly than a modern equivalent, while on the Winnall estate and more modern premises the issues are more conventional. Properly recoverable professional fees and, in appropriate cases, loss of rent during the works can also form part of the claim. We identify every genuine head of claim so that nothing recoverable is left on the table, while ensuring the claim reflects what the lease genuinely requires on an older building.

Understanding the diminution cap, and how we work with it

Winchester landlords should be aware of Section 18 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1927, which can limit a dilapidations recovery to the amount by which the disrepair has reduced the value of your interest in the property. A claim cannot exceed your genuine loss, and a tenant’s surveyor will often raise diminution to try to cap the figure, an argument that can be more nuanced on a period building with a limited market. This is exactly why expert, locally informed preparation matters: we assess the claim with the diminution position in mind, present it in a way that reflects your true loss, and are ready to address diminution arguments directly. Where you plan to carry out the works, re-let or refurbish, those intentions affect the diminution position, and we advise you accordingly to protect your recovery.

It’s good to talk.

Featured FAQs

  • What is the difference between an interim and a terminal schedule?

    An interim schedule is served during the lease term to require a tenant to remedy breaches before the lease ends; a terminal schedule is prepared at or near lease end, covering all outstanding breaches and the cost of putting them right.

  • Do period and listed buildings change a landlord's claim?

    They can. Reinstating or repairing historic fabric can be costly and may engage heritage considerations, and a claim must be carefully judged against what the lease genuinely requires. Our local experience with these buildings is exactly what makes our claims robust.

  • How do you maximise what I recover?

    By preparing a claim grounded in the precise lease terms and supported by thorough inspection and clear evidence, so it is robust and hard for the tenant’s surveyor to challenge. A well-evidenced, Protocol-compliant claim recovers more than an inflated one.

  • Are you really based in Winchester?

    Yes. Our office is at Hursley on the edge of the city, so we know the local building stock and can act quickly.

Tenant dilapidations surveyor surveying an industrial property in Andover.

Speak to a Winchester landlord dilapidations surveyor

If you are a commercial landlord or investor in Winchester with a lease approaching its end, or a tenant who has left your property in disrepair, it is good to talk. You will deal directly with a local chartered building surveyor who will prepare a robust claim and recover what you are genuinely owed. Call us, email us, or book a consultation.

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