Landlord & Tenant Disputes

When the relationship between landlord and tenant goes sour, it can be challenging to find a way forward without the dispute escalating and becoming expensive and time consuming. Getting the right legal advice early on can save you substantial amounts of money and protect your investment.

Our specialist Dispute Resolution team offer commercially-focused advice and representation for landlords and tenants across South West Wales.

From advising landlords whose tenant has breached their lease terms to tenants looking for ways to end their residential or commercial lease or assisting tenants seeking to take legal action against their landlord, we will take a proactive approach, helping you explore creative and cost effective solutions to your dispute.  

So, for advice about resolving disputes and taking or defending legal action, get in touch with our expert landlord and tenant lawyers in Haverfordwest, Narberth and Carmarthen by giving us a call or by filling in our online enquiry form.

Our landlord & tenant dispute resolution expertise

We recognise the unique challenges landlords and tenants face when confronted with a  lease or tenancy dispute. For both parties, the property involved represents a significant financial investment and vital business asset, so the stakes are inevitably high, no matter which side of the dispute you are on.

Our expertise includes:

• Rent arrears and rent disputes
• Service charge disputes
• Forfeiture
• Ending a commercial tenancy
• Alterations, repairs and dilapidations disputes
• Subletting and assignment disputes

Our preferred approach is to address disputes in a constructive and practical way, anticipating and side-stepping problems before they can cause problems for you or your business.

Although we work with both landlords and tenants, in your case, we work for you alone. Our landlord & tenant lawyers will take the time to get to know your business and help you navigate the complex area of landlord and tenant and commercial property law to achieve your personal or business goals. Our experience of handling both sides of disputes also gives us a unique insight into the challenges facing you and the potential solutions.

We have a strong track record of success for helping landlords and tenants settle matters outside of court, preserving the landlord-tenant relationship wherever beneficial. However, we also have fierce litigation skills and experience helping clients take legal action wherever necessary.

General breach of tenancy

Landlord and tenant disputes almost always arise because of an alleged breach of the residential or commercial lease agreement which will cover most of your rights and obligations.

Sometimes a breach of the lease is clear, but it is also common for the terms and the circumstances in which the alleged breach occurred to be open to interpretation. We can review your commercial tenancy agreement on your behalf and provide informed, practical advice about enforcing or defending your legal rights.

Rent arrears, rent disputes and possession proceedings

We can assist landlords whose tenants have fallen into rent arrears recover what is owed and regain possession of their property.

We can also help tenants negotiate with their landlords about alleged rent arrears, including responding to formal notices and letters of claim, and defending possession proceedings.

Service charge disputes

For landlords, service charges are essential to carry out certain works and fund the upkeep and management of residential or commercial property. However, from a tenant’s perspective, it is sometimes difficult to see how the level of costs are justified, particularly as there are in some circumstances no statutory limits on how much the landlord can charge and transparency is often an issue.

We can help you resolve service charge disputes, from negotiating service charge provisions within residential and commercial leases to recovering service charge arrears.

Ending a commercial tenancy

Neither a landlord or tenant can terminate a commercial lease before the end of the fixed term on a whim – they must typically comply with the terms of the lease and their legal obligations. For example, many leases include break clauses which allow the tenant (and sometimes the landlord) to end the tenancy upon specific events or at certain points during the term. The landlord may also be able to forfeit the lease if the tenant has breached its terms.

We can advise on your legal rights and obligations when ending a commercial tenancy, including:

• Exercising break clauses
• Exercising forfeiture clauses
• Surrendering a commercial lease
• Lease renewal disputes

Ending a residential tenancy

The law surrounding the termination of a residential tenancy is complex and has many pre-conditions to be satisfied in order to successfully end the tenancy agreement. It is therefore important to get good early legal advice in order to avoid wasting precious time in ending the tenancy.

We can represent, advise and assist you hen ending a residential tenancy, including:

• Making sure you are compliant with the legislation regarding residential tenancies
• Serving Section 21 or Section 8 Notices
• Issuing and representing you at Court
• Dealing with any counterclaims
• Enforcement of possession and rent arrears judgments

Alterations, repairs and dilapidations disputes

An alleged failure to keep up with alteration and repair duties can be a great source of conflict within residential and commercial tenancies, often leading to significant costs for both landlords and tenants during or at the end of the tenancy.

We can provide advice about bringing and defending dilapidations claims in line with the strict legal protocol, which is in place to protect landlords and tenants during disputes over the physical state of commercial property.

Subletting and assignment disputes

Transferring a commercial tenancy, either by the tenant subletting to an additional sub-tenant or assigning the lease to a replacement tenant, can be a flexible arrangement for both landlords and tenants. However, there are practical difficulties that come with such transfers. For starters, subletting and assignment is not an automatic right – some commercial tenancies bar the practice altogether and the landlord’s consent is typically required.

We can help landlords and tenants resolve subletting and assignment disputes, including:

• Negotiating consent and the terms of subletting and assignment
• Advice on reasonable and unreasonable withholding of consent
• Advice on unauthorised subletting
• Disputes over change of use
• Interpreting and enforcing guarantees
• Exploring alternatives, such as terminating the commercial tenancy

Speak to our landlord & tenant solicitors today

For advice about resolving disputes and taking or defending legal action, get in touch with our expert landlord and tenant lawyers in Haverfordwest, Narberth and Carmarthen by giving us a call or by filling in our online enquiry form.