Who should pay? Tenant or landlord

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Windy here yesterday, not a storm but enough to be noisy and see the trees really moving around.

Tennant opened a fairly high up flat window while cooking.
Window blew open hard, hinges are bent and now it can’t be closed properly.
Window is about 2 metres, opens from the bottom, upvc and otherwise has no issues.

Given the tenant's insurance would not cover the building, it is only for the Tenant's possessions and is not mandatory anyway, that would be impossible.

Tenants can get insurance to cover accidental damage to the building. The fact that it's not mandatory is irrelevant, really.

Landlord. A window should be fit for purpose.

That's not remotely how it works.

Landlord, probably covered by their building insurance anyway.

Right. Ok.

Landlord definitely

Spot on.

I've been a tenant, and am now an owner (well, the bank is technically the owner).

I looked after my rentals as well as I look after my own home. Leaks get fixed ASAP, no wet washing on radiators, windows opened a crack every morning for at least an hour every day no matter how cold it is. Windows wiped down every morning as despite all my counter-measures, I still get condensation on cold days.

However, it was windy in gusts over the weekend and I assumed that a gust could possibly wrench the window open so I only opened the windows on the sheltered side of the house.

I don't understand how hard it is for some people, tenants and owners but particularly tenants, to use their heads and look after their homes.

My friend has rented for the last 25 years. She's left each home in a mess due to negligence (or being a bit daft at times). Each one was pristine when she moved in. I know this because her last but one was the one I'd moved out of directly before she moved in and I'd viewed the others with her.

She won't accept advice. Does everything she shouldn't to keep a house dry and mould-free. The one she moved into after me was covered in black mould in three months. She was using a vented dryer against an inside room wall so even if the house had a hole for a vent it wouldn't have been used. She was trying to heat the house from the heat of her new dryer as she reckoned the steam was warming!

I asked her at the time if it needed a vent but she said it would have come with the machine if it did. I explained that some don't and pointed out the steam coming from the back to no avail. She blamed me for telling her about the "faulty" house and "dodgy" landlord even though I'd lived there 8 years with no problems. She's trying to sue the landlord - a lovely elderly gent who was amazing with us.

I despair. She's well-educated and not stupid but lacks common sense and won't take responsibility for anything. She's lucky to get a rental at all. If potential landlords saw the state of the houses when she left she wouldn't get one. She has a dog and cat but works all day so the carpets are always a mess with dog shit and pee and interior doors are scratched and chewed. She's just rescued a cat despite the current landlord not accepting them due to her allergy to cat flea bites. Apparently, the previous tenant did the same and as she cleans the property between tenants she is unwilling to accept them.

As for window limiters, it depends on the window as some have to open fully as a fire escape.

Isn’t that what insurance is for?

as a tenant you can’t win. Don’t open the window and get mould and it’s your fault, open the window and it gets damaged by the wind and it’s your fault.

Insurance costs rise to stupid amounts if you claim for small things like that.

From what OP says in a later post they sound like idiots. Would you open the window when the trees are visibly being blown around if it were your own house?

I no longer rent but there are fewer houses up for rental than ever before because landlords are selling up due to too many regulations, mortgage interest relief withdrawn and Section 21 at risk. Landlords can afford to be picky.

My LL was great but my friend's new LL is already talking of selling up and she hasn't been there long.

The fact landlords are selling up because they're now being regulated to ensure they provide adequate living conditions to their tenants tells its own story really.

I also love that despite the OP stating in the opening line that it was

"Windy here yesterday, not a storm but enough to be noisy and see the trees really moving around"

Multiple posters have decided to ignore that entire and post on the basis that the tenant opened their windows fully in gale force winds.

Landlord. And I'm a landlord

Yes, I agree. Landlord to pay (insurance would cover careless tenants), but irritating.

As a landlord I'm sometimes irritated by the damage my tenants do (far more damage than I've ever done, and I'm really not particularly careful), but you have to suck it up. People aren't as thoughtful when it's not their responsibility.

as a tenant you can’t win. Don’t open the window and get mould and it’s your fault, open the window and it gets damaged by the wind and it’s your fault.

Not opening your window during a storm/strong winds isn't going to give you mould

I agree with this

I had a hood extractor in the last place that I rented.
The amusing thing is that it didn't extract to the outside, it just recirculated the air.
So as much as you seem to have it in for the tenants you don't know the full details.

@FrippEnos it probably had charcoal filters in it to absorb smells. As you were a tenant I would have expected you to check and maintain them really. Do tenants really not try to maintain the property that they are living in at all?

This.
Accidents happen all the time and it would come under buildings in which is covered by Landlord insurance.

Did you mean too be so rude?

Yes it did and yes I did.

But it doesn't alter the fact that the extractor didn't extract condensation to the outside, which was the point that I was making. If you could have been bothered to read what I had posted.

You didn’t say anything about moisture and I didn’t say anything rude @FrippEnos

You thought that it was amusing to have an extractor that didn't extract to the outside. It’s very normal to have this type of set up in kitchens and it doesn’t result in moisture problems in the property. I’m glad that you maintained it so that it could do the job that it was designed for.

You decided that on no information that I wasn't maintaining the extractor. That is making stuff up and rude.

You thought that it was amusing and showed no understanding of how it worked. If you were maintaining it then surely it wouldn’t be amusing as you’d know that it was doing the job that it was there to do perfectly well.

Apologies if you misunderstood my posts, no offence was intended.

Landlord

Landlord pays. That's why they have building insurance. Although, in my case, my flat is grade 2 listed, which means the exterior has to look original, so I have ancient sash windows. I found out recently that replacing a glass pane costs £15 and there are 8 separate bits per window.
My landlord only does what he absolutely has to and whatever regulations he has to follow.
Every time I let him know I have a problem he's in France on holiday.

This happened to a friend of mine and the housing association tried to charge her for it. I appealed against the charge on her behalf (she'd just lost her child and couldn't be bothered with the hassle) and they dropped it.

I would expect the landlord to claim on the insurance for it, but obviously HA's disagree!

there you go again making assumptions.

Go you.