Should there have been safety glass?

flipflopflo

We are in a rented property, we've lived here for 4 years. It's an old house with some parts built in the 1700's and some 1800's. One of the bedroom doors has four panes of glass in the top half. They are old panes and not safety glass. My son has put his hand through 1 of the panes and has multiple cuts on his hand. We will replace the pane but it won't match the others. Was the landlord obligated to put safety glass in when we started to rent or as the house is so old things like that don't matter?

AdrianC

No, the landlord was not obligated to.


At some point over the past four years, you could have noticed the lack of markings on the toughened glass and requested the landlord change it if it was an issue for you.

What size are the panes, and what height from the floor?
Current building regs require all panes at least 450x450, within 1500mm of the floor, to be toughened glass.

That is not retrospective... No, even for a rental property.

How old is your son?
Old enough to know not to do things like that, or young enough to still require supervision for his own protection?

Section62

flipflopflo said:

It's an old house with some parts built in the 1700's and some 1800's.

Is the building listed?  If so the doors and their glazing could be a feature, with an appropriate replacement pane needing to be sourced.

You might also want to get some advice on whether temporary safety film could be applied to reduce the risk of further breakage/injury.

flipflopflo

Thank you for your reply. I was just checking as I had two seperate people tell me they thought the glass should be safety glass (one who is a landlord) and I didn't think it did because of the age of the property. The panes are about 4ft from the floor and there are two bigger than the others. They are in place of panels in the old doors. The one that got broken is about 12in by 24in

My son is 15 and autistic and tripped on the step a little in front of the door.

flipflopflo

Section62 said:

flipflopflo said:

It's an old house with some parts built in the 1700's and some 1800's.

Is the building listed?  If so the doors and their glazing could be a feature, with an appropriate replacement pane needing to be sourced.

You might also want to get some advice on whether temporary safety film could be applied to reduce the risk of further breakage/injury.

No the building isn't listed, so that shouldn't be a problem. 

I will look into safety film, thank you for the suggestion.

theartfullodger

You could try suing landlord referencing Defective Premises Act 1972 - see

https://england.shelter.org.uk/legal/housing_conditions/duties_and_liabilities_on_landlords_and_builders_under_the_defective_premises_act_1972

- but you might not win.

'phone Shelter to discuss, 0808 800 4444

davilown

theartfullodger said:

You could try suing landlord referencing Defective Premises Act 1972 - see

https://england.shelter.org.uk/legal/housing_conditions/duties_and_liabilities_on_landlords_and_builders_under_the_defective_premises_act_1972

- but you might not win.

'phone Shelter to discuss, 0808 800 4444

And what would that achieve? As stated before, it’s an old house and glass in the windows does not have to be up to current modern standards.
 

A teenager breaks a window - it happens, on a regular basis. replace the glass (with a more modern a safety glass if required) and get over it. (I remember doing it myself many years ago)

flipflopflo

theartfullodger said:

You could try suing landlord referencing Defective Premises Act 1972 - see

https://england.shelter.org.uk/legal/housing_conditions/duties_and_liabilities_on_landlords_and_builders_under_the_defective_premises_act_1972

- but you might not win.

'phone Shelter to discuss, 0808 800 4444

Thank you, I don't want to sue anyone and won't be.

flipflopflo

davilown said:

theartfullodger said:

You could try suing landlord referencing Defective Premises Act 1972 - see

https://england.shelter.org.uk/legal/housing_conditions/duties_and_liabilities_on_landlords_and_builders_under_the_defective_premises_act_1972

- but you might not win.

'phone Shelter to discuss, 0808 800 4444

And what would that achieve? As stated before, it’s an old house and glass in the windows does not have to be up to current modern standards.
 

A teenager breaks a window - it happens, on a regular basis. replace the glass (with a more modern a safety glass if required) and get over it. (I remember doing it myself many years ago)

We will replace it. Hopefully the landlord won't gripe about one different pane when they do the inspection in 2 weeks.

davilown

flipflopflo said:

davilown said:

theartfullodger said:

You could try suing landlord referencing Defective Premises Act 1972 - see

https://england.shelter.org.uk/legal/housing_conditions/duties_and_liabilities_on_landlords_and_builders_under_the_defective_premises_act_1972

- but you might not win.

'phone Shelter to discuss, 0808 800 4444

And what would that achieve? As stated before, it’s an old house and glass in the windows does not have to be up to current modern standards.
 

A teenager breaks a window - it happens, on a regular basis. replace the glass (with a more modern a safety glass if required) and get over it. (I remember doing it myself many years ago)

We will replace it. Hopefully the landlord won't gripe about one different pane when they do the inspection in 2 weeks.

They shouldn’t do - it’s difficult to replace glass that’s potentially a few hundred years old!

flipflopflo

davilown said:

flipflopflo said:

davilown said:

theartfullodger said:

You could try suing landlord referencing Defective Premises Act 1972 - see

https://england.shelter.org.uk/legal/housing_conditions/duties_and_liabilities_on_landlords_and_builders_under_the_defective_premises_act_1972

- but you might not win.

'phone Shelter to discuss, 0808 800 4444

And what would that achieve? As stated before, it’s an old house and glass in the windows does not have to be up to current modern standards.
 

A teenager breaks a window - it happens, on a regular basis. replace the glass (with a more modern a safety glass if required) and get over it. (I remember doing it myself many years ago)

We will replace it. Hopefully the landlord won't gripe about one different pane when they do the inspection in 2 weeks.

They shouldn’t do - it’s difficult to replace glass that’s potentially a few hundred years old!

Fingers crossed. It's the first time that they have been in for 18 months, we were due an inspection and lockdown 1 happened and there are a few things that need looking at.