Secondary Glazing for Landlords: A Good Way to Improve Rental Properties

As a landlord, you always have to find a balance between making your property better and keeping costs down and following the rules. Secondary glazing is a great way to solve a lot of problems and give you and your tenants measurable benefits. This is everything you need to know about this window improvement that is becoming more and more popular.
What is secondary glazing?
Secondary glazing involves adding a second pane of glass or plastic to the inside of existing windows. This creates an air gap between the original window and the new pane, which keeps the heat in. Secondary glazing works with your current windows to make them more energy efficient without needing to replace them completely, unlike double glazing.
Improve Rental Properties with Secondary glazing
Improvements to EPC and energy efficiency
The new EPC rules say that rental homes must have Band C ratings by 2030. Secondary glazing is a cheap way to meet these rules. Secondary glazing can cut down on heat loss via windows by as much as 70%, which will greatly raise your property’s energy performance rating. This enhancement can help you avoid having to spend between £6,100 and £6,800 on costly upgrades to satisfy the new criteria.
The thermal benefits are very big. Single-glazed windows usually have U-values of about 5.7 W/m²K. However, when you use low-emissivity coated glass for secondary glazing, this value can drop to about 2.0 W/m²K. This means that tenants will save 10–20% on their heating bills each year, which makes your house more appealing and cheap to rent
Cost-effectiveness and getting your money’s worth
The payback period is good because most installations may pay for themselves in 3 to 8 years just by saving energy. Magnetic secondary glazing methods pay back the fastest, in about three years. More permanent installations usually pay back in seven to eight years. This will vary depending on the type of secondary glazing you choose and the material as well.
Tenant happiness and the value of the property
Secondary glazing has many benefits for tenants besides saving energy. It can cut down on noise from outside by 50 to 80 percent, which is especially helpful for homes near busy roads or in cities. The wider air gap between the panes makes this type of double glazing sound better than regular double glazing. Fewer drafts can make tenants happier and keep them longer.
Putting it up and taking care of it
Most of the time, professional installation is done in a day with little trouble for the renters. Installing it is easy and doesn’t require any changes to the structure of the windows that are already there. There isn’t much maintenance to do; mostly just cleaning it every so often and checking the seals.
If you install quality systems correctly, they can survive for decades. This makes them a long-term investment instead of a quick fix.
Benefits of following the rules
Secondary glazing helps landlords satisfy the current Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES), which require Band E ratings. It’s also getting ready for rules that might come in the future, which could save money on updates later on. If a property doesn’t meet the minimal criteria, it could be fined up to £5,000.
Deciding to invest
Secondary glazing is a great option for landlords who want to improve their buildings without spending a lot of money. It fixes the issues of energy efficiency, tenant comfort, noise reduction, and following the standards all at once and at a cheap cost.
Secondary glazing might be a good idea if you have single-glazed windows, noise problems, renters who are unhappy with their high energy bills, or if you need to improve your EPC rating. It is one of the smartest things you can do for your rental property portfolio because it is cheap, easy to put together, and offers a lot of benefits. Get a free, fast quote for it today.