If you occupy premises you need to know that they will be maintained to a standard which suits your business and that responsibility for carrying out the work is clearly attributed to landlord or tenant. You will also need to know who is going to pay for it.

Responsibility for repairs is the most common area of dispute between landlord and tenant, especially if the issue is not clearly addressed in the lease.

In a short lease or an occupational licence, your obligations as tenant will generally be fairly limited e.g. internal repair only.

If you have a lease of part of a building, it is common for you and other tenants to be liable for internal non-structural repairs, with the landlord being responsible for the remainder, even though he may recover the costs through service charges.

If you have a longer lease for a whole building, you will generally be held to be fully responsible for internal repair and external repair including structural defects.

In practical terms, assessment of your liability will depend on the current state of the premises, the required standard of repair, whether you are required to renew or improve the premises and whether you are responsible for inherent defects in the property. All these issues should be investigated with the landlord and covered in the lease.

Decoration should also be addressed in the lease - you would usually be required to decorate at specified intervals. The decorative specifications may be more or less specific. If the landlord undertakes the work, the cost is likely to be recoverable from you through service charges.

You will normally also be required at the end of the lease to restore the premises to their condition at the start. This can be particularly expensive and you should take care if you are acquiring the tail-end of a relatively long lease.

It is also important to ensure that a schedule of the condition of the premises showing the state of repair at the start of the tenancy is kept.