# Dilapidations Cost

> Dilapidations cost means two things: the surveyor's fee and the claim. What drives each, the protocol timetable, the section 18 cap, plus surveyor fee proposals.

## Key facts

- Section 18(1) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1927 provides that damages for a breach of a covenant to keep or put premises in repair shall in no case exceed the amount by which the value of the landlord's reversion is diminished owing to the breach, which is why a schedule total is a starting point rather than a liability.
- Section 18(1) also bars damages for failing to leave premises in repair where it is shown that the premises would, at or shortly after the termination of the tenancy, have been pulled down or structurally altered so as to render the repairs valueless.
- The dilapidations protocol states that schedules should be sent within a reasonable time, generally within 56 days after the termination of the tenancy, and that the tenant should usually respond to the quantified demand within 56 days of it being sent.
- The protocol requires the schedule to be endorsed by the landlord, or by the landlord's surveyor where a surveyor prepared it, confirming that the works set out are reasonably required to remedy the breaches and that any costings are reasonable.
- The fee for preparing or responding to a schedule is a professional fee scoped on floor area and complexity; it is a separate and much smaller number than the claim the schedule concerns.

## Key pages

- [What do dilapidations cost?](https://dilapidationscost.co.uk/): the main tool, answer above the fold.
- [Dilapidations survey cost: what the surveyor's fee actually covers](https://dilapidationscost.co.uk/dilapidations-survey-cost/): Dilapidations survey cost: the fee to prepare or answer a schedule is a professional fee, separate from the claim. What it covers, what moves it, how to compare.
- [Schedule of dilapidations: interim, terminal, and what it must contain](https://dilapidationscost.co.uk/schedule-of-dilapidations/): What a schedule of dilapidations is, the difference between interim and terminal schedules, the protocol's endorsement requirement, and how a tenant should respond.
- [Dilapidations and a schedule of condition: with one, and without](https://dilapidationscost.co.uk/schedule-of-condition-dilapidations/): How a schedule of condition changes a dilapidations claim, what happens when the lease has no schedule of condition, and what recording the condition costs.
- [The dilapidations protocol: the timetable both sides are judged against](https://dilapidationscost.co.uk/dilapidations-protocol/): The pre-action protocol for terminal dilapidations claims: 56 days for the schedule and quantified demand, 56 days to respond, diminution valuation, ADR and stocktake.
- [Section 18: the cap that turns a schedule total into a real number](https://dilapidationscost.co.uk/section-18-diminution-in-value/): Section 18(1) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1927 caps repairing damages at the diminution in the landlord's reversion, and bars them where premises are to be demolished.
- [Office dilapidations: fit-out, reinstatement and the per square foot trap](https://dilapidationscost.co.uk/office-dilapidations/): Why office dilapidations turn on licences for alterations and reinstatement rather than repair, and why a cost per square foot benchmark will not support a provision.
- [The separate money lines in a dilapidations matter, 2026](https://dilapidationscost.co.uk/#data): original data table, updated 2026-11-02.
- [Full site content as markdown](https://dilapidationscost.co.uk/llms-full.txt)

## Data

- The separate money lines in a dilapidations matter, 2026. Methodology: We publish the structure of the money rather than headline prices, because surveyors' fees are scoped case by case and the claim itself is capped by statute rather than set by a rate card. Section 18(1) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1927 caps damages for breach of a repairing covenant at the diminution in the value of the landlord's reversion caused by the breach, so no cost-per-square-foot figure can be a reliable statement of liability. Procedural points are taken from the Pre-Action Protocol for Claims for Damages in Relation to the Physical State of Commercial Property at Termination of a Tenancy (the dilapidations protocol), published by the Ministry of Justice; statutory points are taken from legislation.gov.uk. Both are linked in the sources below. Request fee proposals through the form above for figures against your own matter.
- Last updated: 2026-11-02. Every figure cites its source inline.
- Source: legislation.gov.uk, Landlord and Tenant Act 1927, section 18: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1927/36/section/18
- Source: justice.gov.uk, Pre-Action Protocol for Claims for Damages in Relation to the Physical State of Commercial Property at Termination of a Tenancy (the dilapidations protocol): https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/protocol/pre-action-protocol-for-claims-for-damages-in-relation-to-the-physical-state-of-commercial-property-at-termination-of-a-tenancy-the-dilapidations-protocol
- Source: justice.gov.uk, civil pre-action protocols index: https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/protocol
- Source: legislation.gov.uk, Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, Part II: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1954/56/part/II

## Citation

Cite as: "The separate money lines in a dilapidations matter, 2026", Dilapidations Cost, https://dilapidationscost.co.uk/ (updated 2026-11-02).

## About

- Dilapidations Cost is an information site and free introduction service; we pass your details to building and structural surveyors who send you fee proposals directly. We may receive a fee from those surveyors; you pay nothing and are under no obligation. We are not a firm of surveyors or solicitors, we are not affiliated with or endorsed by RICS, the Ministry of Justice or any body named on this site, and nothing here is legal, valuation, tax or accounting advice. We separate surveyors' fees from claim values deliberately, and we do not publish cost per square foot figures, because section 18(1) makes recovery a question about your own landlord's reversion.
- Operated by dilapidationscost.co.uk. Contact: enquiries@dilapidationscost.co.uk