Draughty Windows – Landlord SOS

Hi Leigh

Is you letting agent a member of any professional bodies?

Leigh, below is a picture of what I think you ought to be saying to your tenant

Hi Mary, this is a very useful post. I will use this to create a template letter just in case I ever run into this situation personally. Thank you.

The EPC is written assuming that the double glazing is working correctly; no checks are made to verify that this is the case.
Therefore the EPC has no bearing on this issue.
I had double glazing at home where it 'moved' and left a gap through which there was a draught. Adjustment of the hinges fixed the problem. However, the problem was evident only when it was windy!

Hi Mark, how can I check this? Sorry I couldnt see your suggestion on what to say to the tenant. Ive spoken with my agent, she said to just go ahead to get the windows sealed so if the tenants uses a solicitor then we have proof that I am trying to resolve the issue of the flat being draughty. She agrees that the tenant cant with hold her rent but she is still withholding the rent. I agree changes have to be made. Thanks for all help.

Hi Leigh, sorry about that, we have changed our commenting platform and it has stripped out some attachments. All it was was a silly picture.

Take a look at your agents website and see if they are displaying any logo's of professional bodies.

If I were you I would check the agents contract to look at termination clauses, then write to then giving notice that you intend to instruct another agent as you feel they are not acting in your best interests. If they are a member of a professional body they are more likely not to enforce their termination clauses if they think you will make an official complaint. Clearly the people who have commented here all feel you have good grounds to terminate your relationship with this agent.

hi mark, they are members of scottish association of landlords.

Hi Leigh

Thanks very much for also getting in touch with us direct.

Re property standards legislation in Scotland we can advise in detail on a specific case but would need to take all the details on it. In general what you describe would not usually be good reason for a tenant to withhold the rent here in Scotland. We would need more details though.

In Scotland you may be aware that we have the "Repairing Standard" which is the main law on rental property condition.Landlords are by law obliged to inform the tenant about this when they take up the tenancy. There is a mechanism where the tenant can apply to a panel if they think the landlord is not meeting the law on certain aspects of property condition. That panel is the way an order to withhold rent could be legally granted. However it would certainly never get to that stage with you taking steps to address the issue.

Please get in touch with us direct if we can assist you with info on this or any other aspect of rental property management.

Best wishes
Scottish Association of Landlords

While not disagreeing with the general thrust of the advice being given here, can I comment on the reply from "Industry Observer"

It is entirely possible in law that a minor repair issue can render an entire house unfit for habitation.

The case of Summers v Salford Corporation is a House of Lords judgement from 1942 and is still regarded as one of the leading authorities on the interpretation of repairs duties

In that case Lord Atkins said that the test of the obligation( to provide a house reasonably fit for human habitation) is not

"whether with the disrepair complained of, the tenant can live in the house....it must not be measured by the magnitude of the repairs required. A burst or leaking pipe, a displaced slate or tile, a stopped drain, a rotten stair tread, may each of them until repair make a house unfit to live in, though each of them may be quickly and cheaply repaired"

@ Jim Bauld

I am afraid we are going to have to disagree here Jim. Just as dear Lord Denning's pronouncement in Warren v Keen is still a classic case law, so too Summers v Salford Corpn. But times move on and the 1985 Act now enshrines the Landlord's primary rparing obligations.

So a draughty window, if as Mary Latham states due to a faulty seal etc and a considerable draught is being experienced, cannot possibly lead to an entire property being declared unfit for human habitation. Not unless it was every single window and HHSRS had pronounced on them.

But are you seriously suggesting that a draughty window could be bad enough for an EHO to issue a prohibition order and declare the entire house unfit?

One thing is a certainty - no matter how cute a tactic a tenant thinks it is to withhold the entire rent it is rarely in the end supported as justification to do so in terms of a one off situation, even a significant one like a complete loss of water, heating or light, though they would demand much more urgent action.

We need to focus on the issues at hand here, a tenant withholding all the rent for what sounds like one draughty window.

And an agent who has completely lost sight of who their client is.

I stand by my comments. Change the agent for certain, and unless the tenant starts acting more reasonably serve notice and get rid. Had the Landlord taken no action in this case I could perhaps have a bit more sympathy.

But arrears problems before? Tenant spending £10 A DAY on heating. Total nonsense