25th February 2014
Roger Hannah
If you are involved in a property lease then having a good relationship and understanding between a landlord and tenant is essential to a successful and efficient lease agreement between both parties. In general, providing both parties agree to the general rules and regulations of renting a property and understand the content of their lease agreement then no problems will arise, but unfortunately this is not always the case, and sometimes issues will arise between a tenant and landlord which need to be dealt with promptly.
In many cases a Chartered Surveyors can help to smooth over any potential issues that you might have in this situation and they can usually be an invaluable resource either whilst negotiating a lease or should a dispute arise.
What are my rights as a landlord?
As a landlord you can protect yourself with a well worded lease agreement covering the way that your property needs to be looked after while you are in a lease agreement. In general, when you sign a lease it is wise to stipulate the condition the property will be returned to the landlord in, ideally the same state that it was initially in. You also have the right to receive rent payments on a specified date each month or quarter.
When you initially lease out a property you may take a payment or rental deposit which is designed to cover any repairs that need to take place or any damage that is sustained to the property by the tenant. When your tenant is looking to relocate or leave it’s important that you do a thorough inspection to ensure that the place has been left in a good condition and that any repairs (dilapidations) that need to take place are taken out of this deposit or made good by the tenant.
What are my rights as a tenant?
Many rights of a tenant are covered in complicated legislation. However the lease agreement also covers many important aspects of the arrangements. Where there are shared areas, for which you are probably paying a service charge, you have the right to occupy the property which is well-maintained and your service charge should be fair and understandable. There is also considerable legislation in respect of how rent and other charges may be recovered by the landlord. You will usually be required to leave the property in a good state of repair but should not be expected to contribute to improving the property on behalf of the landlord. These situations can cause significant disagreements between Landlords and their tenants.
Roger Hannah & Co, as Chartered Surveyors, are experts in Property Law and the practicalities of lease agreements. Our Lease Advisory Team can advise Tenants or Landlords on lease drafting and any disputes that may arise.
Our Building Consultancy Team can draw up schedules of condition either at the start of a lease or mid lease and also dilapidation schedules at the end of a lease. These may be required by the Landlord or Tenant. We can also advise on and disputes in respect of building condition and repairs.