Dispute with Commercial Landlord over deposit

[Nell16]

I had to close my shop in May of this year. I traded for 3 years, paid my rent, kept the shop in good order.

On moving out I was presented with the Schedule of Dilapidations. I always knew that some of my deposit will be used for repairs by the landlord but I did not realise that he will try to use it all up!

He wants to replace flooring and paint the walls internally and externally + change the ceiling lights and do some "chemical cleaning of the wet areas" (??), although we painted the walls just before moving out.

We washed and cleaned the premises two days before moving out in order to keep most of the deposit. When I was looking for premises 3 years ago I was shocked by the state of some of them but we left ours in pristine order so that the next owner could just move in.

Anyway, at one point the landlord said that they found a new tenant who wants to do renovations and will be returning all of my deposit. Unfortunately, the new tenant pulled out so the landlord is asking for my consent to start renovations.

3 years ago my solicitor failed to advise me to ask for the Schedule of Dilapidations prior to moving in, so I only have my survey and some photographs on the state of the property then.

My questions are:

Should I withhold my consent to renovations in the hope that a new tenant will be found in time?

Can I dispute the costs as excessive?

How do I know that the landlord will carry out renovations and not just pockets the money?

Do I have a claim against my solicitor who did not advise me properly in the first place?

I honestly do not want to enter into a prolonged dispute and throw good money after bad ones. I hope that someone who has been in similar situation or a property solicitor can give me some pointers.

Many thanks!