leaky business premises

ceewash

I have a rented business property with rain leaking through front of building. Builders tell me it needs repointing and new roof. Although the landlord has promised to do this end of March I am concerned about the effect on business. The leak with a bucket under it is the first thing people see when they enter the building. Also I am trying to sell my business so this does not help when prospective buyers come round.

The landlord suggested I pay and he reimburses me at end of March but I am wary of this situation. Should I do this?

Any advice? Should I get legal advice or is that too heavy handed at this stage?

Thanks for any advice.

paddyrg

Will he agree to you doing the repairs and withholding the value from your rent payments? You'd need to ratify it by letter, but would get things sorted soonest.

CKhalvashi

paddyrg wrote: »

Will he agree to you doing the repairs and withholding the value from your rent payments? You'd need to ratify it by letter, but would get things sorted soonest.

I have a full repairing and insuring lease (my responsibility), so OP will need to check that this can't be sent back to him/her.

ceewash

It is a full repairing lease but he has agreed to pay for the repairs. That is why I don't want to pay out first. I have suggesting paying from the rent but that did not seem a good idea to him.

CKhalvashi

ceewash wrote: »

It is a full repairing lease but he has agreed to pay for the repairs. That is why I don't want to pay out first. I have suggesting paying from the rent but that did not seem a good idea to him.

I'd advise you get that in writing.

Mistral001

I assume that the lease is such that you are responsible for repairs, so why is the landlord involved at all? If it is so important to your business, why don't you just get on with it rather than hanging around hoping that the landlord will fix it even though it would appear that he has no contractual responsibility to do so. At the minute the landlord seems to have you dancing to his/her tune because he has dangled a free repair in front of you which he has no contractual responsibility to pay. If he/she has verbally agreed to the repairs, that could form a contract but it is his word against yours until he puts it in writing. As other have said, get it in writing - if you can.

ceewash

I have got it in writing. The cost will be about £4000 so I would rather he paid it. He did agree the roof was in a bad state when I took over the building.

Mistral001

ceewash wrote: »

I have got it in writing. The cost will be about £4000 so I would rather he paid it. He did agree the roof was in a bad state when I took over the building.

You seem to be on top of it. In the meantime you probably have to try to make the leaks as undisruptive to the business as possible. Is there something you can put at ceiling level that could catch the drops of water from the leaks and yet not be immediately noticeable to customers? You might want to get your own builder to advise on this.

ceewash

The problem is the leaky is coming through the suspended ceiling so the tiles are becoming soaked and disintegrating. If I slide them out of the way there is an obvious hole in the ceiling, if I leave them they are stained and eventually drop to pieces.
I think I will have to be patient but it is difficult when paying so much rent. I have another builder coming tomorrow so I will ask his opinion if there is a temporary fix.