Building Surveys in Lincolnshire
The Windmill Family and Commercial Hotel in Alford, Lincolnshire is an 18th-century coaching house located in the historic market town of Alford, Lincolnshire, England.
It’s a lovely area with a variety of independent shops, one other pub, restaurants and a popular craft market which was first established in the 1970s.
Until recently, The Windmill provided en-suite rooms and hosted an Indian Restaurant which had been a firm favourite with the locals and visitors alike.
Unfortunately the business was badly affected during the pandemic and when the tenants left, the landlord took the opportunity to buy the bank next door, which they have renovated and knocked through to make The Windmill into a much bigger space.
We look forward to seeing the hotel open up again.
The team at Delaney Marling Partnership (DMP) were commissioned by the Tenant to complete a condition survey to append to a new lease. This is a separate legal document appended by the landlord’s legal team to the original lease agreement, between the landlord and the incoming tenant.
A schedule of condition will determine the exact state of the various elements of the property, which will limit the tenant’s obligations for dilapidations.
The proviso is that repair obligations are ‘that the premises are to be kept in no better condition’ than evidenced by such a schedule.
Photographic and written report
When prepared by DMP, the schedule of condition provides both a written and photographic report to show evidence at the commencement of the lease.
It is important that the photos are not too general. They need to be specific, pin-pointing locations and include anything from floor coverings, wall areas, windows, to roofing and structural issues. To support these images, DMP provides a written report with detailed information and explanations of each item.
The report flows through the building and highlights each room in turn, as well as external elevations to make it easy to read and refer to.
DMP provides the report in a format that makes it easy to append to the lease for future reference.
Advice for The Windmill Family and Commercial Hotel
Our advice to the tenant was that the lease shouldn’t be FRI (full repairing and insuring) but IRI (Internal Repairing) only due to the poor condition of the external elements, including the many sections of roof.
Local History
During the survey, we got into a fascinating conversation with a local resident about the history of the hotel and some of the interesting clientele known to frequent the premises.
The excellent drone images were taken by Jamie at Flightsight.
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