Browse our Landlord & Tenant Disputes Services
Landlord and Tenant disputes are not uncommon and often arise when the terms of a new lease are being discussed. We act for both landlords and tenants in respect of leases renewals and ensure that the most recent and correct legislative procedures are followed.
The Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 protects the interests of both the landlord and tenant. We will advise you according to that legislation and work closely with surveyors to ensure that your best interests are protected wherever possible.
Where terms of a new lease are agreed or determined by the Court our lawyers can prepare draft leases and advise you or your rights and obligations under a lease.
Dilapidations
A lease will include obligations, for both the landlord and tenant, in respect of repair and maintenance of the property. Often these include provision for a tenant to undertake repair at the end of a lease. Understandably, this can often give rise to a dispute between the landlord and tenant who have different opinions as to what can be classed as ‘disrepair’, and who is responsible for undertaking any remedial work.
There is a formal protocol that landlords must legally follow if they want to enforce repair obligations upon their tenant(s). If you didn’t receive legal advice prior to agreeing the lease, you may not be clear about where those obligations lie. It is important for both landlords and tenants to be aware of the extent of their obligations under a lease and to ensure any dilapidations claim is appropriately addressed. This is something that our legal team can help with.
Forfeiture & Rent Recovery
Forfeiture and rent recovery applies to both commercial and residential leasehold property, and again provision will need to be made for this crossover.
Essentially the position is the same for both residential and commercial, in that where a tenant is alleged to have failed to undertake their obligations under a lease (whether those obligations relate to payment of rent, service charges, repair, use of the property, complaints of noise or any other breach of a term or a lease) we are able to act for both landlords and tenants in taking actions against the other party to ensure the breach is remedied e.g. that debt collection is undertaken to seek recovery of rent but also can extend to the serving (or responding to) of a notice to seek forfeiture.
Where a landlord has identified a potential breach, it is important that appropriate steps are taken by the landlord to waive their right to forfeit the lease which is the process in which they seek to bring the lease to an end. We will carefully analyse the lease to establish the parties rights under it, and identify what enforcement action can be taken by either party against the other(s).
Sometimes the desired outcome of an aggrieved party is not necessarily to end the lease, but to ensure that the other party(s) adhered to their obligations.
We deal with all aspects of alleged breaches of a lease and, if so required, enforce matters in Court (for commercial or residential property) or the Property Tribunal (for residential leases).
Trespass
We act for landlords to act quickly and efficiently in the removal of unauthorised occupants/trespassers from their property. There are different procedures that must be followed to remove trespassers depending on whether it is a commercial or residential property. Failures to follow the correct procedure can result in a delay to the possession of the property being obtained. Delays in turn can result in further damage to the property and reduce the period of time when a landlord could be receiving rent for that property.
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