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We guide landlords and tenants through all aspects of the dilapidations process.

Dilapidations is one of the most contested areas of commercial property, and getting expert advice makes a substantial financial difference, whichever side of a claim you are on. Bressummer A.R.K. are RICS chartered building surveyors providing specialist dilapidations consultancy across the Hampshire area. Based in Hursley, near Winchester, we act for commercial landlords and tenants alike, though never both on the same claim, and bring senior, chartered expertise to every instruction.

What are dilapidations?

Dilapidations are breaches of a commercial tenant’s obligations under the terms of their lease, these typically include covenants to; repair, decorate and reinstate a property. At or near the end of the lease, the landlord typically prepares a schedule of dilapidations setting out the alleged breaches and the cost of putting them right, and seeks to recover that sum from the tenant.

Whether you are a commercial Landlord or Tenant we offer expert dilapidations consultancy advice around the best strategy for your asset at lease end. We offer dilapidation assessments for Tenants to forearm them of future claims and formal schedules for Landlords as well as professional representation on negotiating claims.

Specialisms

  • Terminal & Interim Schedules

    The two typical types of dilapidations schedules. Terminal schedules are commonly produced within the last six months of the lease term and provide anticipated costs to remedy breaches whereas Interim schedules are produced during the middle of the lease term and are not typically costed.

    We are experienced in providing both and can advise when either is most appropriate.

  • Negotiation of claims

    Once a dilapidations claim has been served it is typical practice for both the Landlord and Tenant to seek professional representation to negotiate the claims on their respective clients behalf. This will be done through ‘line by line’ comments and agreements on each element of the claim in order to reach either a final settlement figure or to agree the scope of works that the tenant needs to carry out before lease end.

    The benefit of appointing a chartered building surveyor is that you get the experience and knowledge on what is reasonable to be included in a claim and what is not, depending on the situation of each property and the intentions for the property after lease end.

  • Tenant/Occupier Assessment Reports

    Specifically a service we provide for commercial tenants and typically carried out either during a lease term or before entering into a new lease. These assessments involve one of our building surveyors essentially determining your dilapidations liabilities as if we were acting for the Landlord. Our reports extend to strategic advice on how to handle future claims, negotiations and exit strategy at lease end.

    The main purpose of these reports is to professionally assess what the Landlord will likely produce in their dilapidations claim, allowing tenants not only to budget for a claim but to take action in remedying some of the breaches before they receive a claim.

     

  • General Advice

    If you just want to have a chat with one of our building surveyors then get in touch and we would be happy to help and give any initial advice.

Drop us a message

Send us some details in the form below and one of our chartered surveyors will take a look and contact you within 24 hours of receipt.

Alternatively you can call or email us directly:

Email - sales@bressummerark.co.uk
Telephone - 01962 656 520

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Our People

Services for Landlords

Landlord of a commercial property? Contact us to speak to a chartered commercial building surveyor for some free advice.

Your tenant is vacating. The condition of your property directly affects its value and letting potential.

A well-prepared and robustly negotiated dilapidations claim protects your asset and ensures you’re not left out of pocket. We produce thorough schedules, advise on strategy, and negotiate on your behalf to achieve the best possible outcome.

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, Winchester

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Services for Tenants

Received a dilapidations claim! Contact our team to speak to an experienced chartered surveyor for a free consultation.

You may be approaching the end of your lease, or still years away from it and wondering what your repairing obligations actually mean in practice. Modern leases are often held on full repairing and insuring (FRI) terms, under which the tenant carries a heavy repairing burden. The sums claimed can be significant, and the gap between an opening claim and a fair settlement is often considerable, which is exactly why expert surveying advice pays for itself.

With the right advice at the right time, the impact can be significantly reduced. We work with tenants to understand their liability early, plan for it, and negotiate claims to a fair and reasonable conclusion.

Excellent Service! We recently engaged with Bressummer to manage the dilapidation process and carry out a full surveyor’s survey for the office premises we were vacating. Their service was excellent from start to finish; thorough, transparent, and highly efficient. Harjit guided us through each stage, provided clear advice, and ultimately helped reduce our dilapidation costs. I highly recommend them for anyone needing expert support with commercial property dilapidations.

Julie - Aion Silicon, Reading

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Cost of services

So, how much do we charge?

We appreciate that a rough estimate of cost can be helpful in the decision making process. That’s why we have provided some narrative on how we calculate our fees.

Our fees for dilapidations is split into two stages:

  • Stage 1 – The initial dilapidations schedule (Landlord) or Assessment (Tenant).

This is based on the size of the property and our estimates are set out below.

Property Size (Sqft) Fee Range (£)
<5,000 < £2,000
5,000 – 10,000 £2,000 – £3,000
10,000 – 20,000 £3,000 – £3,750
20,000 – 30,000 £3,500 – £4,500
30,000 + Get in Touch

 

  • Stage 2 – Negotiation of the claim

If we are appointed to negotiate the claim, for either the Tenant or Landlord, in dilapidation claims then we base our fees on either an incentivised fee based around the level of the settled claim at the end of the process or a standard hourly rate of £175 per hour.

NB: Our fees are fully inclusive of travel and office costs but do exclude VAT which is added on.

Why us?

Experience

Our dilapidations surveyors in Hampshire and London have over 20 years combined experience in the commercial property sector.

Results

We have saved our clients over one million pounds through dilapidation negotiations.

Knowledge

We have advised on over 500,000 sq ft of commercial property space.

Pragmatism

Straightforward and pragmatic advice in the context with each individual situation.

Featured FAQs

  • What is an FRI lease?

    The term ‘FRI’ when referring to commercial leases stands for Full Repairing and Insuring (FRI). This means that the tenant will hold full responsibility for the whole of the property and not just part of it in terms of maintaining and insuring. This will extend to the structure, external and internal building fabric and finishes along with mechanical and electrical services, external areas, boundaries and even underground drainage runs that serve the property.

    When entering into a commercial lease as a tenant it is extremely important you understand the nature of the lease and your responsibilities under it and do your due diligence before committing. This is where a commercial building surveyor can help by carrying out a building survey or schedule of condition and even review certain lease covenants to ensure your commercial position is protected as much as possible.

  • Can a building surveyor act for both the Landlord and the Tenant in a dilapidations claim?

    Whilst a building surveyor can act for both landlords and tenants separately in dilapidations claims, crucially they cannot act for both parties in the same dilapidations claim as this would be a clear conflict of interest and the RICS has strict rules around this. This goes for different surveyors in the same firm also as the firm itself would be conflicted.

  • If I appoint you will I get a chartered surveyor?

    In short yes. All our surveyors are chartered building surveyors and members of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) our company is also regulated by the RICS. So you will always have a chartered surveyor acting for you.

  • How much do your services cost?

    Good question, and important! Its a common one and the answer is, it depends on three main variables. The size of the property, the type of survey and the location of the property. You can get a guide on our fees for different services by seeing our cost of services page by clicking here – Cost of Services

  • Can I speak to a surveyor before I commit to appointing?

    Yes certainly, our company is made up of Chartered Building Surveyors, all directly employed by the company, so if you contact the company one of us would be happy to have a free chat to see how we can help.

  • Where are you based?

    Bressummer A.R.K. are a dilapidations Surveyor in Hampshire and London. We do however serve clients looking for an experienced, reputable dilapidations consultancy all across the South of England and even further afield. Contact us to discuss a dilapidation survey for your commercial property.

  • What is the difference between interim and terminal dilapidations?

    Interim claims occur during the lease term, while terminal dilapidations are assessed at the lease’s end.

  • How can tenants reduce their liability for dilapidations?

    By maintaining the property during the lease and using a pre-lease Schedule of Condition to document existing issues.

  • What are dilapidations, and why are they important in leases?

    A schedule of dilapidations address breaches of lease terms, such as required repairs, ensuring properties are maintained and landlords’ investments are protected.

Schedule of condition surveyor using a telescopic camera to survey a commercial office building in Basingstoke

Our years of dilapidations consultancy experience allows us to negotiate claims in an effective and pragmatic manner, achieving great results.

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Working with us

Get an understanding of how we work with you to achieve the results required.

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Lets see if we can help support you with your requirements with a friendly and informative chat.

Our Proposal

Receive a formal fee proposal tailored to your requirements. Confirming timescales, price and deliverables.

Delivery

Once instructed we carry out our desktop review, arrange access and carry out the physical inspection in order to produce our report.

Follow Up

Once our report is issued, we provide follow up consultation to discuss our findings and address any questions.

Featured Case Studies

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If you're looking for a dilapidations surveyor in Hampshire? Then look no further! Contact us today to speak with one of our chartered building surveyors. Contact a Surveyor Today