Office

Building Surveys

We regularly undertake a variety of Acquisition Surveys of Freehold and Leasehold premises, in particular substantial offices within London. We surveyed a prestigious building in London which was originally constructed for Burberry in 1912 and had been used by a Russian Billionaire as his private entertainment suite during the 2012 Olympics. It then stood empty for some time and in a state of disrepair. By combining our specialist Building Pathology skills with our understanding of leasehold premises we were able to ensure that our client, Virgin Money, avoided a substantial leasehold liability.

We have undertaken a variety of individual investment surveys through the City of London and we have a detailed understanding of the investment market in order to advise potential purchasers on the risks posed with a variety of leasehold interests which Tenants may have on the premises.

Tenants

If you are looking to acquire a Leasehold interest even in a small suite within an office then the liability in terms of both the individual suite and contribution to the service charge can be substantial. We regularly find that Tenants are asked to assign the Lease which places an obligation on the repair of external windows which may be 15 floors above ground level and with no access. Some Tenants often inherit office space which is in poor repair and non-compliant and without advice on the wording of the Lease and assessing the works which are needed to ensure compliant occupation then the initial cost could be substantially higher than would be reasonable. Our involvement ensures that such liability is avoided.

Refurbishment and Project Management

We are able to advise on the feasibility of refurbishing offices to a variety of standards including historic premises, dated 1970’s type base and more modern CAT A offices. We have acted for a number of Landlord’s within the prestigious Park Square Conservation Area of Leeds. We sub-divided the previous Pinsent Mason offices to create smaller lettable units which were let as Barristers Chambers, a cosmetic surgery and individual offices, following our role in the Design and Project Management of the space. We also advised on the acquisition, design and project management of a further Grade 2 office in the same area which was immediately let to a high calibre firm of Lawyers and the building even featured in a TV series.

Dilapidations

If you are looking to exit office premises then we can offer advice in respect of your potential Dilapidations liability and how best to manage your exit strategy. We have acted for a variety of clients ranging from individual office suites through to substantial multi-storey office premises. We recently acted for Dixons Carphone for the vacation of their original Head Office in Hemel Hempstead following an initial claim which exceeded £8M settlement was reached within a matter of weeks to a fraction of the claim. Our clients were protected further with a claw back agreement should the Landlord’s disclosed intentions prove incorrect.

Building Pathology

We are often called upon to provide a variety of specialist advice in defects to office premises ranging from roofs, to external cladding leaks through to leaking basements and timber decay. Following the Grenfell disaster, we have been called upon to advise on the cladding systems to a number of high rise properties throughout the UK.