Repairs - Landlord Or Tenant Responsibility

[BusterBloodvessel]

Hi All,

Quick one, we currently rent a shop premises that came complete with roller shutters front and back. One of these has broken, would you expect it to be the landlord or tenant responsible for the repair cost?

FYI here are the most relevant sections of the least I can find;


The Premises form only part of a “Building”. It does not include any part of the main structure,
foundations, first floor flat and access thereto, roof or exterior of that Building but it does
include window frames and glass, doors and door frames, raised floors and suspended ceilings
and the voids above and below them, light fittings and other Landlords’ fixtures and fittings;

8.2. The Landlords will use reasonable endeavours to provide the following “Landlords’ Services”:
8.2.1. keeping the Premises in tenantable condition;
8.2.2. keeping in tenantable condition the Common Parts and the structure of the Building

of which the Premises form part;
8.2.3. keeping the Service Media in working order;
8.2.4. insuring the Premises against fire and such other risks or perils (if any) as the Landlords

may from time to time deem it prudent to insure
but the Landlords are not obliged to:
8.2.5. remedy damage caused by the Tenant, or
8.2.6. remedy fair wear and tear, or
8.2.7. put the Premises or any Common Parts or any Service Media into better condition than

at the date of the Lease.



At what point would you consider something "fair wear and tear"? Is the above basically (in a nicer way) saying anything that goes wrong whilst we're in there - say something major like the boiler breaks, would that also be our responsibility to fix it? I am not sure where you "draw the line" (if there is one!)

 

[Alan]

One of these has broken

How did it break?

 

[BusterBloodvessel]

How did it break?

It went up one morning then wouldn’t come back down at night. One of the hinges connecting the shutter to the springed roller at the top had sheared off.

I suppose thinking about it now that’s probably wear and tear haha!

Like I say I guess my question is where does that start/end..? You could take over a premises advertised with x y and z facilities and they could all break down in the first week. Seems a hazy area.

Or maybe that’s just part and parcel of renting premises..?

 

[WaveJumper]

Hence making sure you get a survey done, plus some proper legal advice before you sign a lease,

 

[Financial-Modeller]

Hence making sure you get a survey done, plus some proper legal advice before you sign a lease,

This is the right answer, but in practical terms its likely that the security and insurance implications will exceed the cost of legal advice and/or repair to the roller shutter, so get it repaired ASAP at your cost and worry about the landlord's responsibilities later.

 

[deniser]

There is something not quite right or very unusual about your lease wording.

You wrote: "8.2. The Landlords will use reasonable endeavours to provide the following “Landlords’ Services”:
8.2.1. keeping the Premises in tenantable condition;"

Most leases would make the maintenance of the "Premises" the Tenant's obligation, not the Landlord's.

If there is no separate reference to the shutters then I think logically they would be covered under doors and windows.

This therefore makes the shutters maintainable by the landlord to "tenantable condition". Tenantable condition is not the same as good condition. It just means that the premises are fit to be used by a tenant. So the question would be:

Do the shutters need to be working for the premises to be reasonably used by the tenant?

For example, is a condition of the insurance that the shutters are in place?
Can the premises be secured with one hinge broken?

If the properly functioning shutters are needed, then it seems the landlord would be responsible under your particular lease wording.

But in a standard lease, this would be the tenant's responsibility because the tenant is usually responsible for everything to do with the shop front.

However, difficult to comment properly without reading the whole lease.

 

[The Byre]

One of the hinges connecting the shutter to the springed roller at the top had sheared off.

Instead of worrying about the number of angels to be found dancing on the head of a pin (to the sound of Nine Inch Nails) why don't you just fix it?

 

[BusterBloodvessel]

Instead of worrying about the number of angels to be found dancing on the head of a pin (to the sound of Nine Inch Nails) why don't you just fix it?

We already have.