Office deposit question

toby1kenobi

Hi there,

My company just moved out of the small office we're renting, and the landlord is basically engineering things so we don't get any deposit back.

They've inspected the place, and come up with a range of issues and associated costs to rectify them, that mysteriously add up to more or less exactly our deposit.

Most of the 'faults' are just to do with the age of the property, i.e. the floor is quite old and a bit worn, and they're saying it needs replacing (in itself questionable). We haven't done anything other than walk around on it, but they're saying that the lease stipulates the premises must be kept 'in repair'; in fact, they've explicitly said that anything not 'in repair' at the commencement of the lease should have been fixed by us?! This seems crazy to me, and obviously not something we'd have knowingly signed up to.

Does anyone know if what I've described is actually legal?!

Thanks,

Toby[FONT=&quot][/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]

negg

I don't know but the first thing I would be doing is taking photographs of everything as evidence. If you can print them off and get someone from another nearby office to sign and date them, it could be a big help.

Richard_Webster

they're saying that the lease stipulates the premises must be kept 'in repair'; in fact, they've explicitly said that anything not 'in repair' at the commencement of the lease should have been fixed by us?!

You will have to read the lease carefully, but that's quite likely to be the position. When you took the lease you should have had the place checked by a surveyor and if there were issues of disrepair then you should have either renegotiated the wording of the lease so you were not liable for them or obtained a rent free period so you could put them right.

In some cases it might have been agreed that you covenanted to keep it in no worse condition than at the date of the lease as evidenced by a schedule of condition dated ...and signed by the parties. The schedule then would have contained detailed descriptions and photographs so that they are looked at when the surveyor goes round at the end of the lease.

Did you have a solicitor advise you when you took the premises?

toby1kenobi

Hi Richard,

Thanks for your reply, what you're saying closely resembles the most recent email we're received from the landlord! I wasn't actually with the company at the point of signing the lease, but I suspect legal advice wasn't sought...which we may come to regret!

Thanks again,

Toby