Pub Dilapidations UK: Protect Your Finances

Last updated: 24 April 2026

You could leave a pub in perfect condition and still receive a dilapidations bill of £5,000 to £15,000 at the end of your tenancy. Most licensees see it coming and do nothing about it. Pub dilapidations clauses in your lease are one of the biggest financial risks that new operators don’t ask about during negotiations, and it costs them dearly. You’re not alone in not understanding what dilapidations are—the terminology is deliberately opaque, and the way pubcos present them during ingoing makes them sound like routine maintenance rather than a potential end-of-tenancy bill. In this guide, I’ll explain exactly what pub dilapidations in the UK mean, how they’re calculated, what your schedule of condition actually covers, and how you can protect yourself from unreasonable claims. This matters because you control what gets damaged or neglected during your tenancy, but you don’t control how your pubco interprets the lease at the end of it.

What Are Pub Dilapidations?

Pub dilapidations are the costs your pubco claims from you for repairs and maintenance that they say should have been done during your tenancy but weren’t. When you leave a pub, your lease requires you to return the property in a certain condition. If it’s not in that condition, the pubco can bill you for the cost of bringing it back up to standard.

The problem is that “condition” is subjective. What you think is normal wear and tear, your pubco might claim is neglect. I’ve seen dilapidations bills that included redecorating the entire bar area—something that costs thousands—because the paint had faded. The legal distinction exists, but it doesn’t always protect you in practice.

Dilapidations fall into three categories:

• Structural dilapidations: roof damage, cracked walls, broken windows, water ingress
• Decoration dilapidations: wall paint, wallpaper, carpets, flooring wear
• Operational dilapidations: kitchen equipment, bar fittings, plumbing fixtures that are damaged beyond normal use

The distinction matters because your lease should specify which ones are your responsibility and which are your pubco’s. In a well-drafted lease, the pubco keeps the building’s fabric (structure, roof, exterior) and you keep the inside in decorative order. In a poorly-drafted lease, you end up responsible for everything.

I took on Teal Farm Pub three years ago, and the ingoing schedule listed decoration in reasonable detail, but structural items were vague. That vagueness cost me because when I left, the pubco claimed the external rendering needed repainting—something I’d never touched and wasn’t responsible for. I challenged it and won, but I had to spend time and money gathering evidence to prove it.

Schedule of Condition: The Document That Matters

Your schedule of condition is a detailed inventory of the pub’s condition on the day you take it over. It’s your primary defence against unreasonable dilapidations claims. When you leave, your pubco will compare the property’s condition to this schedule and bill you for anything that’s worse.

The schedule of condition is the single most important document you’ll sign during your ingoing—and most licensees spend five minutes reviewing it when they should spend an hour.

Here’s what should be in a proper schedule:

• Detailed description of every wall, floor, ceiling, door and window
• Photographs of every room and external area (this is crucial—written descriptions alone are not enough)
• Condition of all fixtures: bar counters, kitchen equipment, furniture, lighting
• Any existing damage or defects clearly recorded
• Separate sections for wet areas (toilets, kitchens) where damage accumulates quickly

The photographs are critical because they create objective evidence. When your pubco claims the carpet in the bar was pristine and now it’s worn, the photograph proves what condition it was actually in. Without photographs, you’re in a dispute based on memory and assertion.

Most pubcos provide a schedule, but I’ve seen schedules that are dangerously generic. One pub licensee received a schedule that said “bar area: decorated to a good standard” with no room descriptions, no itemised fixtures, and no photographs. When she left after five years, the pubco claimed £8,000 in decoration costs with no way to challenge it because there was no baseline to compare against.

Your action: Before you sign the ingoing paperwork, review the schedule line by line. If it’s vague, ask for photographs. If the pubco says they don’t have photographs, ask them to take them on your first day and add them to the schedule before you sign. If they refuse, that’s a red flag about how they’ll treat dilapidations claims later.

How Dilapidations Claims Are Calculated

When you leave your pub, your pubco will have a surveyor inspect the property and produce a dilapidations schedule. This is a list of items that fall below the standard described in your original schedule of condition. The surveyor will estimate the cost of repair for each item.

Here’s where it gets contentious: the cost estimates are often inflated. Surveyors work for the pubco, and they’re not incentivised to be generous. I’ve seen quotes where the cost of redecorating a single room was quoted at £4,000 when local contractors would do it for £1,200. The pubco will often accept the surveyor’s estimate without challenge.

The calculation usually works like this:

1. Surveyor inspects property and lists items that are below schedule condition
2. Surveyor obtains quotes from contractors for repair/replacement
3. Pubco sends you the list with bill
4. You have 28 days (typically) to respond or accept
5. If you dispute, you enter negotiation or potentially legal proceedings

The problem is step 2: the contractors used are often the pubco’s preferred suppliers or affiliated companies. This creates a conflict of interest. I’ve heard of pubcos using their own in-house teams to quote repairs, which guarantees inflated costs.

There’s also the question of causation. If the paint is faded after ten years, is that your fault or normal decay? Most leases say you’re responsible for decoration, but courts have sometimes ruled that extreme fading over a long tenancy is not the tenant’s responsibility. The pubco will claim it is.

How to Protect Yourself From Unreasonable Claims

1. Get a Detailed Schedule of Condition With Photographs

This is non-negotiable. Before you sign the ingoing agreement, insist on a schedule that includes:

• Dated photographs of every room, hallway, toilet, kitchen, external areas
• Detailed written description of condition for each area
• Explicit note of any existing damage or defects
• List of what is the pubco’s responsibility (structure, roof, exterior) vs yours (decoration, fixtures)

If your pubco won’t provide this, consider whether you want to take on the pub at all. A pubco that refuses transparency on dilapidations is signalling that they plan to be aggressive about claims later.

2. Document Everything During Your Tenancy

Take photographs yourself at regular intervals. I photograph the bar, dining area, and toilets every six months and store them dated with the file name. This creates a record that protects you against claims about damage that happened years earlier. If the pubco claims the carpet was damaged by your negligence in year 2, but you have a photo from year 3 showing the same wear, you’ve got evidence.

Keep maintenance records. Every time you have something repaired, get a dated invoice and keep it. This proves you’ve maintained the property during your tenancy. When you leave and the pubco claims you neglected the gutters, your records of gutter cleaning will protect you.

3. Understand Your Repairing Covenant

Your lease specifies who’s responsible for different repairs. In a full repairing and insuring (FRI) lease, you’re responsible for almost everything except structural. In a less onerous lease, you might only be responsible for internal decoration and day-to-day maintenance. Read your lease carefully and understand exactly what’s your responsibility and what’s the pubco’s.

When the dilapidations schedule arrives, cross-reference every item against your repairing covenant. If they’re claiming for roof repairs, but your lease says the pubco maintains the roof, challenge it immediately.

4. Understand Normal Wear and Tear

Most leases include language about normal wear and tear. In law, this means damage that occurs through ordinary use of the property, not through neglect or misuse. Paint fading over five years is normal wear and tear. A hole in the wall is not. Carpet wearing thin in high-traffic areas is normal; carpet stains from spills are negligence.

This distinction is legal, not subjective. When you receive a dilapidations bill, challenge items that are clearly normal wear and tear. The pubco will often back down because they know they won’t win the argument.

5. Get Independent Quotes for Major Items

If the dilapidations bill includes large items—decoration, carpet replacement, kitchen repairs—get your own quotes from independent contractors. A £5,000 decoration quote from the pubco’s surveyor might come in at £2,000 from a local painter. You have the right to challenge the cost, and independent evidence is powerful.

What to Do If You Receive a Dilapidations Bill

Most licensees receive a dilapidations bill and assume they have to pay it. They don’t. You have legal rights, and many claims are successfully disputed.

First Response: Don’t Ignore It

Your lease will specify a time limit for responding to a dilapidations schedule—usually 28 days. Miss this deadline and you lose the right to dispute. Respond immediately, even if your response is “I dispute this in its entirety and request evidence.”

Second Step: Request Detailed Breakdown

Ask your pubco for:

• Itemised breakdown of each claim (not lump sums)
• Photographs showing the alleged damage
• Contractors’ quotes for each item
• Evidence that the damage wasn’t present in the original schedule of condition

Many pubcos will soften their claims when pressed for evidence. If they can’t provide clear proof that the damage occurred during your tenancy and that you’re responsible for it, challenge the claim.

Third Step: Negotiate or Dispute

Most dilapidations disputes are settled through negotiation. Your pubco wants payment; you want to reduce the bill. Meet in the middle. Offer to pay for items that are clearly your responsibility and challenge items that are ambiguous.

If negotiation fails, you can pursue formal dispute through your pubco’s complaints process or through formal dispute resolution mechanisms. At this point, legal costs mount quickly, so most disputes settle before reaching this stage.

Your Action Plan Before Signing Anything

Before you sign a pub tenancy agreement, take these steps to protect yourself on dilapidations:

1. Review the Schedule of Condition With a Property Surveyor

Hire an independent surveyor (around £300–500) to review the pub with you and the schedule. They’ll identify items that are vague, missing, or poorly described. This small investment protects you from tens of thousands in disputes later. Many licensees skip this step to save money and regret it when they leave.

2. Clarify Responsibility in Your Lease

Ask your BDM or lease advisor specifically: “Which party is responsible for structural repairs, roof maintenance, external rendering, kitchen equipment, and internal decoration?” Get clear answers in writing. If your lease is vague, ask for it to be amended before you sign.

3. Review the Dilapidations Clause in Your Lease

Most leases include a dilapidations clause. Read it carefully. Look for:

• Does it limit dilapidations to items in the schedule of condition? (Good—limits disputes)
• Does it exclude normal wear and tear? (Good)
• What’s the time limit for claiming after you leave? (Shorter is better for you)
• Can the pubco claim for items that were already damaged when you took over? (Should be explicitly excluded)

If the clause is one-sided, ask your lease advisor to negotiate amendments before you sign.

4. Document the Ingoing Condition Thoroughly

On your first day, before you do anything else, take detailed photographs of every area of the pub. Get the pubco to sign off on the schedule of condition that day. This creates an immediate baseline and prevents arguments later about what was already damaged.

Before you sign any pub tenancy, know your numbers. Understanding dilapidations risk is part of your financial planning. Use our Pub Command Centre to build a realistic financial model that includes potential dilapidations costs as an exit liability. This £97 investment in financial visibility from day one protects you against surprises at the end of your tenancy.

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