What Are Dilapidations? UK Definition & Meaning

Last updated: 16 September 2026

Dilapidations are the breaches of a tenant's repair, redecoration and reinstatement obligations under a commercial lease, typically identified and costed at or near lease expiry. In the UK, the average dilapidations claim for industrial premises costs £7.27 per square foot, according to Indurent (2026), with London office claims often reaching far higher figures.

Key Takeaways

• Priority First notes that dilapidations describe a tenant's failure to meet lease repair, decoration and reinstatement obligations, usually assessed at lease end.
• Priority First cites RICS estimates of the average cost of dilapidations at £7.27 per square foot, with bills easily running to six figures, per Carlsons Solicitors (2023).
• Priority First highlights that London office dilapidations claims for a 2,000 sq ft space typically range from £24,000 to £100,000, according to 3COL (2026).
• Section 18 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1927 caps a landlord's recoverable damages at the actual diminution in the property's value.
• Regular reactive maintenance throughout a tenancy reduces the scale of dilapidations claims that build up by lease expiry.

What are dilapidations in practice?

Dilapidations arise from the gap between a property's actual condition at lease end and the condition the lease required the tenant to maintain. A landlord's surveyor typically prepares a Schedule of Dilapidations — an itemised list of breaches, referencing repair and redecoration clauses in the lease — then serves it on the tenant, often followed by a Quantified Demand setting out the cash sum sought.

Commercial dilapidations claims across the UK commonly range between £5,000 and £1,000,000 or more, depending on the lease terms and the property's condition, according to Fourth Wall Building Consultancy (2026). Legal fees in these settlements are often 10–20% of the settlement value, and matters typically resolve within three to six months of lease expiry, per the same source. The RICS Dilapidations Guidance Note (7th Edition), effective from 1 December 2016, sets out the recommended best practice surveyors are expected to follow when preparing schedules and negotiating claims, according to CMS Law (2026). For occupiers and landlords managing premises through Priority First's facilities management service, understanding this exposure early — through condition surveys and planned reactive maintenance — is the most reliable way to limit the eventual bill. On one 16-building prime estate Priority First manages, this kind of proactive oversight has produced 250–280 photo-backed patrols per building, records that were previously unprovable and would otherwise leave a landlord unable to evidence upkeep if a dilapidations dispute arose. Priority First has applied the same documentation discipline across its 24 managed sites, so condition evidence exists well before any Schedule of Dilapidations is served.

Related terms

• Schedule of Dilapidations — the surveyor's itemised list of alleged lease breaches served on a tenant.
• Section 18 valuation — the statutory cap limiting a landlord's damages to the actual fall in property value.
• Quantified Demand — the costed financial claim a landlord sends following the RICS Dilapidations Protocol.
• Schedule of Condition — a record of a property's state at lease start, used to defend against inflated later claims.
• Interim dilapidations — breaches identified during the lease term, rather than at expiry, often to prompt earlier repair.

Priority First supports landlords and occupiers in reducing dilapidations exposure through ongoing facilities management and reactive maintenance across prime central London and nationwide.

Related Reading

• What Is Martyn's Law? UK Security Requirements 2026
• What is a Secure Key Holder? Importance and Key Features Explained
• Office Security Best Practices UK 2026 | Priority First