Landlord dilapidations
and Schedule of Condition FAQ
A practical reference for commercial landlords, asset managers and managing agents. Specialist answers on how the Schedule of Condition is recorded at lease grant, how it shapes a dilapidations claim at lease end, and how to protect recoverable value through the Pre-Action Protocol. For schedule preparation and recovery work, see our landlord dilapidations advice.
For landlords & agents
Overview
For a landlord, the Schedule of Condition is rarely the document that first comes to mind at lease grant, but at lease end it often becomes the most important. It fixes the evidential baseline against which the tenant's repairing covenant will be measured, and it almost always shapes the strength (or weakness) of any subsequent terminal dilapidations claim.
The questions below address the issues we are routinely asked about by landlords, investor-owners, asset managers and managing agents, focused specifically on the commercial leasehold context and on protecting the reversion.
At lease grant
Decisions made before the lease is executed determine what the schedule can be relied on for later.
The single most important point for a landlord is that a Schedule of Condition only carries evidential weight if it is properly executed and either annexed to the lease or expressly referenced in the repairing covenant. A schedule produced after lease completion, or one that is not formally appended, almost always under-protects both parties.
Where the landlord intends to rely on a benchmark of original condition, the schedule should be commissioned in good time so it can be reviewed by both parties' solicitors before completion.
During the lease term
The schedule is a fixed reference point, but lease events during the term can affect how it is later applied.
End of term & dilapidations
The schedule has its greatest practical impact in the months before and after lease expiry.
At lease end, the dilapidations surveyor will inspect the property against the lease (including any annexed schedule) and prepare a terminal Schedule of Dilapidations. Where a Schedule of Condition has been properly executed and appended, the tenant's repairing liability is capped at returning the property in no better and no worse condition than recorded, disrepair that already existed cannot be claimed against the tenant.
For landlords this means the original schedule is often the most important piece of evidence determining what can and cannot be recovered.
Process, cost & coverage
Where landlords most often lose evidential ground
The two recurring weaknesses we see on the landlord side at lease end are (1) a schedule that was prepared but never formally appended to the executed lease, and (2) a schedule that was prepared cheaply and lacks the photographic and written depth needed to be relied upon years later in a contested dilapidations negotiation.
Both issues are entirely avoidable at lease grant. A properly executed, evidentially robust schedule, formally annexed to the lease, protects both parties, and routinely makes the difference between a clean dilapidations settlement and a protracted dispute.
, CBC, Schedule of Condition specialists
Commission a landlord-side Schedule of Condition
We act for landlords, asset managers and managing agents across the UK. Same working day fixed quote, evidential reporting prepared in lease-ready format and signed off by an experienced specialist surveyor.
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