Property Mediation Services
Commercial Landlord & Tenant Mediation
Resolving commercial lease disputes without derailing the commercial relationship or spending months in court.
Disputes We Mediate
Commercial landlord and tenant disputes are among the most common property conflicts — and among the most damaging if left unresolved. A protracted dispute over dilapidations, a contested rent review, or a disagreement over a break clause can cost both parties far more in legal fees, management time, and lost opportunity than the underlying amount in dispute.
Harvey Harding mediates across the full spectrum of commercial lease disputes, bringing deep practical experience of how these transactions work in the real world. He understands what surveyors' reports actually mean, how service charge apportionments are calculated, and why a break clause can become a commercial weapon.
Common Scenarios
The Six-Figure Dilapidations Claim
A tenant vacates at lease end and receives a schedule of dilapidations running to hundreds of thousands of pounds. The landlord's surveyor and the tenant's surveyor disagree fundamentally on scope, costings, and supersession. Mediation resolves the gap in a day rather than 18 months of expert negotiations and court proceedings.
The Contested Break Clause
A tenant serves a break notice but the landlord disputes its validity — claiming a condition precedent has not been satisfied. The tenant faces months of uncertainty and potential liability for the remaining term. Mediation provides a commercial resolution before the dispute reaches court.
The Rent Review Deadlock
Landlord and tenant cannot agree on open market rent at review. Comparable evidence is disputed, assumptions differ, and both parties are entrenched. Rather than incurring the cost of an independent expert determination or arbitration, mediation finds a figure both sides can accept.
The Service Charge Dispute
Tenants in a multi-let building challenge the landlord's service charge — questioning costs, apportionment, or the standard of services provided. With multiple parties and technical accounting issues, court proceedings are expensive and slow. Mediation brings all parties to the table for a structured, single-day resolution.
The Lease Renewal Impasse
A protected tenant wants to renew but the landlord is seeking possession on statutory grounds, or the parties cannot agree on the terms of a new lease. With the tenant's business at stake and the landlord's redevelopment plans on hold, mediation offers a faster path to certainty for both sides.
The Forfeiture Standoff
A landlord forfeits the lease for non-payment of rent or breach of covenant. The tenant applies for relief, but both parties face uncertainty — the landlord cannot re-let, the tenant cannot trade. Mediation bridges the gap between reinstatement on commercial terms and a clean surrender, resolving arrears, ongoing obligations, and practical handover in a single structured session.
Why Mediation Beats Litigation
Commercial landlord and tenant disputes have unique characteristics that make them particularly well suited to mediation. The parties often have an ongoing commercial relationship that will survive the dispute — or at least need to survive long enough to complete the transaction cleanly.
Litigation destroys that relationship. It is public, adversarial, and slow. A dilapidations claim that could be settled in a day of mediation can take 12 to 18 months to reach trial, with legal costs that dwarf the amount in dispute.
Mediation also allows for creative commercial solutions that a court cannot order. A rent review dispute might be resolved alongside a lease extension. A dilapidations claim might be offset against a tenant's remaining obligations. These package deals are only possible in mediation.
Facing a Commercial Lease Dispute?
Get in touch for a confidential, no-obligation discussion about how mediation can resolve your landlord and tenant dispute faster and at a fraction of the cost of litigation.
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