Rent increase hostage to windows?

Just get quotes to put new double glazed units into the existing windows.

With the greatest of respect if you do not have enough funds to keep your property in good repair maybe you should not be a landlord?
What would you do if the boiler breaks down?

It is not that difficult or expensive just to change the glass. Just get it done as it devalues your property anyway.

Simon, if the seals on the double glazing are degrading to allow condensation to develop between the panes, then the windows are not “fine”. Your tenants can’t see through them, and the units will also not be doing their job of providing sound and thermal insulation. Your contractual obligation as landlord is to keep the properties in good order – that’s what the tenants are paying you for. They aren’t being “difficult” by insisting that you do that as part of the contract you’ve entered into with them. You can of course attempt to increase the rent, but frankly if I were in their shoes with a landlord who’s not providing the standard of accommodation that I’d been paying for, I’d also be thinking twice about whether to renew with that landlord.

The tenant can not ignore a section 13. And misting window is not a major issue, just it’s not keeping the energy in. Depending on size you should only be looking at around £100 to replace the glass.

It doesn’t sound like too big a job. I’d just get it done. Happy tenants are more likely to go along with rent increases. I don’t think the tenants are being difficult; you are providing them with a service that needs to be right.

Dear Simon,

Relaxing the frames and having new seals is not to expensive make sure the new glass is HHSRS compliant. Spread the cost over 2 years and add it to your rent increase.

Watchout for the technicalities of using S13. Agreement with your tenants is important in fixing the rent. Or use a S21 and new AST at last resort.

oddly enough just came across the bill from when we changed some, took the faulty ones out in the morning and dropped them into to a local glass shop as i didnt trust my measuring, picked up the new ones after lunch and fitted same day. cost £29 each. will vary with size obviously.

Until such time you can afford to replace the insulated glass unit or preferably the windows entirely, consider a Window Defogging Service which is capable of producing cosmetic results that help improve visibility in your windows, but the downside, defogging does nothing to restore the window’s insulating ability to its original level. It involves drilling tiny holes in the affected glass pane to get rid of the moisture. All original parts of the window will remain in place. The small holes will allow the condensation between the window panes to exit. Once the window is 100% dry, the technician applies an anti-fog solution to the interior of the glass pane. This will prevent future condensation from forming on the window. The technician will then add a liquid sealant to the bottom of the affected glass pane & a new seal will go over the drilled holes to close them up completely. But again I stress, this is only a short-term solution & won’t bring back the original insulating features of the window, as at the moment there’s no way to “refill” the inert gasses that damaged windows have already lost, but if you simply want to rid your windows of ugly condensation, then this may be a short-term fix.

Reply to the comment left by No hate plz at 26/11/2021 – 17:54
I had a couple of quotes to replace a window pane in my lounge. They were around £800. It made no sense whatsoever to do so.
I paid £2,300 for the entire window to be replaced with triple glazing. I stopped buying double glazing over ten years ago. If you hop around, you can get the thickest profile triple glazed window very cheaply indeed and this has been the case for well over a decade now. The increased cost for my entire large house from the same provider was only £600 over ten years ago!