How to Manage your Office Space
Property Solicitors B & P Collins LLP share their advice for tenants on how to manage their office space in order to minimise damage and cost of repairs.
Whether you are moving into a new office, or moving out of your existing one, it is vital that you understand what your tenant responsibilities are in order to minimise damage and the costs of repairs of your office space throughout your tenancy.
Any commercial office lease should set out how responsibilities for how repairs and maintenance are shared between the tenant and the landlord. A typical office lease may require you to keep the premises in good condition – even if they are not when you take them over. You’ll want a Property Consultant to provide a property survey and a schedule of condition, particularly if you could be required to pay for structural repairs.
If you are leasing an entire building, it’s likely that you will have a fully repairing and insuring lease, giving you responsibility for maintaining the building and reimbursing the landlord for the costs of building insurance. If you lease part of a building, you might be responsible for internal repairs in your unit while the landlord looks after the structure. You may be required to contribute to the cost of the landlord’s maintenance through a service charge.
Dilapidations
A typical office lease requires you to keep the premises in good condition, as well as making sure they are in good condition at the end of the lease term. If you fail to keep up with maintenance, your landlord can serve you with a schedule of dilapidations requiring you to put things right. Failing that, you can be required to meet the landlord’s costs in doing so.
A landlord will almost always look to serve a schedule of dilapidations at the end of a lease. Once the lease has expired, you will no longer be able to carry out any maintenance so will simply face a monetary claim. Taking legal advice from a Property Solicitor and starting negotiations with the landlord several months before the end of the lease is a better approach. Depending on the landlord’s plans for the premises, you may be able to limit or altogether avoid liability for dilapidations.
For more advice on the legal aspects of moving office, speak to a good Property Solicitor like B & P Collins LLP. They will ensure all the above issues are covered within your office lease and work in your favour.
