Property owner demands almost £300,000, claiming its tenant failed to keep London building in good condition

Property owner Mount Eden Land is suing tenant Metropolis Apartments in a row over the lease of Audley House in central London.

Metropolis took over a lease of the property in Margaret Street, London W1, in 2000, paying an initial rent of £176,220 a year. It handed back the property when the lease ran out on 9 August 2006.

However, Guernsey-based Mount Eden Land accuses its tenant of breaching the lease by failing to keep the property in good repair and condition. It says that putting the property back in good order, the professional fees associated with this process, and loss of rent it would incur at this time would cost it a total of £270,958.04.

Mount Eden Land is also seeking more than £14,000 from Metropolis for the costs of preparing a schedule of dilapidations and more than £1,600 in legal fees.