Is a sustainable approach to dilapidations achievable?

There are three key conflicts when considering a sustainable way to resolving dilapidations:

1. UK statute and most commercially negotiated leases support the full reinstatement of commercial space every time a lease ends
2. Landlords and tenants have conflicting goals at lease end – the focus being purely financial – landlords want to maximise recovery on repair, redecoration and reinstatement obligations, and tenants want to spend as little as possible
3. In-coming occupiers find existing fitout as a barrier and see no value in retaining/reusing it

Our latest viewpoint explores how these conflicts can be mitigated, including altering market expectations of vacant space, tenants considering whole lift term of fit out and increased tenant and landlord transparency and collaboration.