To think that a 'bedroom' without a window cannot be legally described as one?

[ABedroomByAnyOtherName]

We've had a holiday booked since last year with a UK Holiday Cottage company. Lovely cottage, three bedrooms, great reviews on the website.

I paid the final balance this week and thought I'd have a look at the more recent reviews. Two new reviews point out that the third bedroom does not in fact have a window, it is just a windowless storage room with a bed inside.

This is ridiculous, surely? We need three bedrooms as there will be me and DH plus two teens who will definitely not share. We have paid a significant amount of money for three bedrooms - none of us will sleep in a windowless room, especially not in the summer!

After a quick check on the internet, most seem to agree that a room without a window cannot be legally described as a bedroom under UK law and can definitely not be advertised as one for renting out. This is due to fire safety regulations, as there needs to be at least two exits in the case of a fire.

I emailed the company saying this and have had a reply today to say it IS a bedroom and as such wasn't misdescribed, so they don't see an issue.
I'm so annoyed! We have paid a lot for what's basically a two bedroom cottage unsuitable for our needs, how on earth can they justify this?!

Can anyone help point me to the particular piece of legislation/building regs that confirm this? Obviously, lots of planning/building trade websites mentioned this, but I'd rather have a link to a government site to support this when I email back. I'd be so grateful for any help!

Ugh. I am so peeved. I'd rather they gave me a full refund now, as it's so dishonest that I resent giving them any of my money...any advice/pointers gratefully received!

See if there is anything else you can book and cancel this one as it isn't fit for purpose

Hotels have sensitive heat/smoke sensors, sprinkler systems, fire doors, fire escapes, fire alarms and stairs.

By the time you would have tried to get out of the window you would have been halfway towards a fire escape.

But I guess with that, they're advertised as such. So you know what to expect.

If this is for safety, how does this apply to flats? In the past I’ve lived in two city centre flats that had floor to ceiling windows in the bedrooms but you couldn’t open the windows.

One of my friends lived in a new build house where one of her upstairs windows in a bedroom deliberately didn't lock as it was a fire escape.

I've not seen it in anyone else's I know new build houses before or since.

I suspect it was because was in a development where some of the houses were town houses so had more floors.

I wouldn’t mind sleeping in a windowless room and I know many hotels and cruise ships have windowless rooms.

Many homes I’ve been to have windows but ones that aren’t big enough to get out anyway.

It wouldn’t bother me especially for a holiday but if it bothers your family then ask for a refund.

You know you can smash glass?

Granted double/triple glazed windows can be hard to smash. You have to use a sharp object at the edges of the frame.

I’m amazed at your requirements for use of windows as a fire exit. We generally have screens on all windows here (keep the bugs out), and every house I’ve been in for the past 30 odd years have had what are marketed here as ‘rhino screens’. Means intruders can’t take the screens off (riveted in), and they can’t be kicked in or cut. Also means no way you could get out through them. We have to have two exits for the average house, but they are doors. Understand that’s no help if you are trapped inside a room, but I guess the risk of that is minuscule as opposed to no screen and generally sharing your house with 10 million flies, spiders, roaches and bats. I’ve had two houses where bats have come in through a door left open over the years so guess open windows may be a bigger invitation?

So much misinformation on this thread. Half of the examples being given as ‘evidence’ that the OP is wrong are irrelevant.

It is not a bedroom and never has been. It’s a glorified cupboard, at most, a large walk-in wardrobe. You have paid over the odds for a two bed property. You have been missold.

Had similar some years ago overseas. Booked a 4 bed place, us, two DC and PIL. Ended up with three rooms and a mezzanine that overlooked the main living space as ‘bedroom’ 4. It wasn’t a bedroom. There was no privacy, and the lights in the living area lit up the whole of the sleeping area. As with you OP, the owner didn’t seem to think there was anything wrong. We did get a partial refund eventually.

@LizzieBananas a bathroom is not a habitable room and does not require a lawful MoE.

Building regs apply to new builds/alterations. Existing houses may not adhere to today's building regs (steepness of stairs, lack of fire doors etc) and these existing houses are nonetheless able to be let out as holiday cottages. The link to the gov.uk holiday letting guidance is talking about 'inner rooms', which is a room off a room (i.e. you walk through one bedroom to get to a second bedroom). If the windowless bedroom within the cottage is accessed off the hallway (i.e. the fire escape route) then it isn't an inner room. In fact, that guidance states that windows above ground floor can not be taken into account as fire escapes, so whether a first floor room is has a window or not, is a moot point.

So I think you'll need to go down the misrepresentation route - a bedroom without a window is unusual enough that they should make it clear in the description.

This is interesting. We went to Scotland for my sisters wedding last year and stayed in an air b&b. The 4th bedroom where my 2 dc slept didn't have a window. It was right by the front door, in a block of flats. There was no problem, I just want aware, legally you should have a window in a bedroom.

It was! It looked lovely on the website, and ideal for my elderly parents, but was very disappointing in reality. The main bedroom only had French doors onto a balcony, so they couldn’t be left open overnight as they would swing about. Thankfully my parents sleep with their window firmly closed!

I stayed in a brand new premier inn in Glasgow the other month and the room didn't have a window

When I say brand new I mean past couple of years not an old building

Insurance is irrelevant. The insurance will be held by the cottage owner not by the rental company. Your beef is with the company. They should have flagged the lack of window on the description.

If you paid by PayPal you should be protected. If not, it’s worth contacting your credit card company for their rules on holiday properties not as described as you may be able to get a chargeback if the rental company don’t cooperate.

With respect to high rise flats the regulations for safe egress & advice about what to do in case of fire ia obviously different to a standard 2 floor residential property.

For example, there are dry risers on every floor (like a big pipe you connect your fire tender to get water to the fire), and emergency firefighting lifts (usually a normal lift) which has a separate, protected circuit which is enabled via a firefighter key to get equipment to the floor swiftly & safely.

Also, to stop fire spread, fire doors would ideally be on every front door & would increase the time a resident could shelter before fire breaks through, whilst there may be a shelter -in - place recommendation for tenants to wait until rescued by firefighters. There should be fire exits, exit signage, alarms on all floors & smoke alarms in all residences plus a myriad of other safety features in each home & in common areas.

There should also be regular visits by independent, qualified Fire Risk Assessors to complete Fire Risk Assessments (obviously enough) & if action is needed it can be monitored, checked & reassessed if necessary. Working with about a billion FRAs at my last job, most, if not all, are ex-firefighters or come from a building regs background.

We were in stunned silence around the office on the day of Grenfell; there were obvious failures which, as the tragic events unfolded, it was obvious there had been a catastrophic failure in the building materials used on the recent refit. As the outside of the building’s cladding was behind the wicking of the fire upwards from the relatively low floor where the fire originated, shelter-in-place should’ve been replaced with a standard evacuation order, but it wasn’t because the outside of buildings shouldn’t catch fire.

As our colleagues were pulled into the investigation within 48hrs (our firm did not hold the contract for the Royal Kensington & Chelsea council, but were experts in the field), it was alleged that RK&C had done the assessments themselves with unqualified assessors (unknown on the FireBase register of assessors), with catastrophic consequences. Which one could extrapolate was a money saving decision, which was allegedly why poor, cheaper cladding was used in the first place. Allegedly of course.

In 2021, the government issued new guidelines on fire safety for new high rise homes (over 7 storeys) as a result of the Grenfell tragedy https://www.gov.uk/government/news/fire-safety-guidance-strengthened-for-new-high-rise-homes

We moved on from the FRA client a year or so ago so some of the regs have been lost to the idiocies of my menopausal grey matter (& I only have a vague overview of anything relevant post leaving to be honest!) but I hope to have given a brief overview.

As for the issue of the windowless bedrooms; as it’s a property being rented out for profit, the owner should have their own Fire Risk Assessment available to be viewed when asked as simple good practice. Use that as your starting point.

As the old boss used to say, there’s never a stupid question when it comes to safety.

Ask for the insurance details as a request for the type of cover they have

Again, the owner will have the insurance policy not the letting agent who does not own the building.

It may be that the owner is insured for 2 beds and the agent is letting it out as 3.

Haha I was there last year 😅

Ask them about means of escape and fire suppression for the room.

Agreed.

I've just submitted a further complaint to Sykes, on the basis of the property being misdescribed and quoting some relevant parts of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations of 2008. The regs were very helpful and make a point that if a business makes 'false or deceptive statements ' or 'omits important information ' that would have meant that the consumer/customer would not have made the decision to purchase, then that counts as 'unfair trading'.

I've asked for my complaint to be escalated and for a full refund, as I need that money to book a cottage that IS suitable for us... otherwise, no holiday 🤷‍♀️ I've also expressly asked them NOT to cancel on my say so, as I will lose the entire amount paid under the booking conditions.
If they are still unwilling to re consider, I'll contact the credit card company or one of those consumer champion type people.

Interestingly, I noticed when searching for 'bedroom without a window' or similar on Google that this thread was very near the top! I can only hope that they will be fair and reasonable about this and refund...it really hasn't helped that I was up all night being sick, it's the last thing I need!

Thanks so much again to everyone, I'll update the thread when/if I get a response - positive or negative 😬

https://www.visitbritain.org/business-advice/unfair-trading-practices

This is the link detailing the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations of 2008 - it might come in useful for someone else in a similar situation!

Thank you, that's exactly my point! I'll just have to see how they respond now...