We manage offices, retail units, light industrial and mixed-use assets for UK landlords and investors. The value in commercial management is not collecting rent — it is controlling lease events, service charge and dilapidations so the asset comes back to you in the condition the lease promised.
Dilapidations
Schedule of condition
Before a lease is granted we record the demised premises photographically and in writing, annexed to the lease. Without one, a tenant on a full repairing and insuring lease can be held to a standard better than the building was in when they took it — and disputes at expiry become unwinnable in either direction.
Interim and terminal schedules
An interim schedule served during the term forces repair while the tenant is still in occupation and still cares. A terminal schedule at or after expiry quantifies the claim: repair, reinstatement of alterations, redecoration and statutory compliance, with loss of rent and fees where recoverable.
Claim and settlement
Claims are prepared in Scott Schedule format and negotiated under the Dilapidations Protocol, with the section 18(1) diminution cap in mind — the claim cannot exceed the reduction in the freehold's value caused by the disrepair. Most settle without proceedings when the evidence is documented from day one, which is exactly what continuous management provides.
Lease events
- Break clauses — conditions on break are construed strictly; a missed rent payment or unremoved alteration can void the break entirely. We diarise every condition 12 months out.
- Rent reviews — evidence gathered and negotiated ahead of the review date, not after it
- Expiry and renewal — Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 security of tenure, contracting out, and section 25 and 26 notices served on the correct dates
- Assignment and subletting — licences, AGAs and covenant strength assessment on the incoming party
Commercial service charge
Managed to the RICS professional statement on service charges in commercial property: a budget issued before the service charge year, apportionment that is transparent and defensible, expenditure reconciled and certified within four months of year end, and a sinking fund where the asset needs one. Recoverability is tested against the lease before a cost is incurred, not after a tenant refuses to pay it.
Rent and arrears recovery
Quarterly demands issued on the English quarter days, VAT handled where the property is opted to tax, and a defined arrears route: reminder, formal demand, then the appropriate remedy — Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery, drawing on a rent deposit deed, pursuing a guarantor or former tenant under an AGA, or forfeiture where the covenant is beyond saving. We advise on which remedy protects value rather than defaulting to the most aggressive one.
Compliance and building operations
Fire risk assessment and the responsible person duties, asbestos management plan and register, water hygiene, statutory plant inspection, EPC minimum energy efficiency standards (currently a band E floor for continued letting, with tightening expected), and planned preventative maintenance so plant is replaced on a schedule rather than in an emergency.
Reporting and fees
Monthly rent and arrears reporting, service charge against budget, a live lease event calendar and an annual asset plan. Fees are a fixed percentage of rent collected or a fixed sum per unit for smaller assets, agreed in writing before instruction — see our fees page. Dilapidations and lease event work is quoted separately per instruction.
Get a quote
Send the address, use class, floor area, number of tenancies and the next lease event. We will come back within one working day with a written fee and the first three things we would deal with.