Our latest news:      

Updated November 2011: Listed building applications  (Grade II) are being approved for double glazed sash windows in most of our operating areas. This is due to the success of our new moldings and super high performance slim double glazed units. Please note there are lots of alternatives to SLIMLITE units which are overpriced. Please call for further details on getting double glazed timber sash windows in your listed property.

Updated September 2011: The core cost of glass has risen again. After negotiations with our two main suppliers we will not implement this until January 2012. This will be stipulated in all quotations where new glass is required.

June 2011: Please note we have been having lots of calls from clients who had windows fitted by non FENSA members and were not signed off by the local building control. They can now NOT proceed with the sale of their house until this has been rectified. Do not take a chance with the installer. All new windows MUST comply with building regulations and every installation must be certified and or registered with building control.

Building regulations have changed covering document L. For our customers this means the thermal rating of our new sash windows has changed form a minimum U value of 2.0 to 1.6 for windows and 1.8 for doors. The lower the U value the better the thermal rating. We have updated our manufacturing and glazing process to comply with the changes. This will be certified through FENSA.

Only use FENSA registered contractors as advised by local authorities.

Double glazed upgrades now account for 80% of the windows we work on. This is in comparison to standard renovation and draft proofing which accounts for only 20%. We believe this shift is due to high energy costs, severe winters and awareness of the energy (Heat) loss impact on the environment. Also glass technologies have progressed dramatically in the last the 3 years. Single glazed windows were the only way to retain character in your period properties. This is no longer the case. Also the performance of double glazing is many times higher than draft proofing alone.

Control Sash Windows have now uniquely gained planning permission to replace single glazed timber sash windows with high performance double glazed timber sash windows in grade II listed properties in our main operating area. This is a phenomenal change in attitude by city planners and conservation officers. It took us several attempts to design a unique system which was acceptable. This design is now used on all of our replacement windows, more or less guaranteeing planning approval for timber double glazed sash windows. Obviously each planning application is subject to its own criteria and consent.

From news sites in Brighton: Don’t replace your sash windows without checking planning requirements first! News taken from Brighton & Hove News .org

Brighton home owner told to take out his windows

A Brighton home owner has been ordered to restore the historic curved bay windows to his North Laine house.

Graham Jasper, of Cheltenham Place, will have to pay for the work to his terraced home himself after the ruling from the Planning Inspectorate .

Mr Jasper demolished the old bay windows at number 13 – the last original examples in Cheltenham Place – despite being refused planning permission to replace them three years ago.

He wanted to replace them with uPVC windows and appealed against the decision by Brighton and Hove City Council but lost.

Since then he has taken out the old curved bays and replaced them with angle-canted ones and swapped the windows for plastic ones.

He was told to stop the work by council planning officers but pressed ahead so they issued an enforcement notice.

Mr Jasper’s case was examined by planning inspector Katie Peerless who ordered him to restore the property’s original look.

It is in a conservation area.

Her report said that while some other properties had angled bay windows, Mr Jasper’s property had different proportions to the other bays in the street and therefore no historical precedent.

Early photographs of the property show that it originally had unusual curved sash windows, one above the other on each floor, forming a rounded bay.

The inspector added that the demolished bay was the last original survivor of an interesting and unusual design in the street.

She said that its loss was the kind of development that the council’s planning regulations were intended to prevent.

Councillor Lynda Hyde, chairman of Brighton and Hove’s planning committee, said: “I am pleased that the Planning Inspectorate has supported the enforcement notice and dismissed the appeal.

“This action shows that we are keen to protect and maintain the conservation areas within the city.

“Unfortunately because Mr Jasper did not listen to advice to stop building work at an early stage he now has the expense of remedying this breach of planning control.

“As ever I would encourage residents to gain planning approval before carrying out building work and to make use of the free pre-application service the planning department offers.”

The planning inspector who ruled against Mr Jasper in 2007 said that his proposed windows were inappropriate to the style and period of the building and detrimental to the street scene.

Mr Jasper must

• Remove the angle-canted bay window from the front of the property
• Remove the uPVC windows from the front
• Reinstate the round bay as original
• Reinstate the paired curved single-glazed painted timber sash windows to match exactly the original.

£2k fine for modern windows in Brighton conservation area

Installing the wrong kind of windows in a Brighton conservation area has cost a shopkeeper £2,000 in court fees.

Douglas Newman, owner of ‘Goldarts’ Jewellers and Pawnbrokers, installed uPVC windows in the maisonette above without applying for planning permission. The premises at 1A, York Place, Brighton, is in the Valley Gardens Conservation Area.

Mr Newman applied for planning permission retrospectively but it was refused. He also claimed the new windows were replacing old uPVC windows but a 2006 Retail Survey carried out by the council showed the original wooden sash windows.

The council issued an enforcement notice and instructed the owner to return them to the original timber sliding sash windows. When he refused to comply with the planning notice, the council took court action.

Yesterday, Mr Newman pleaded guilty at Brighton Magistrates’ Court and was fined £1,500 plus £810 costs and £15 victim support contribution (total £2325).

Councillor Lynda Hyde, chairman of Brighton & Hove’s planning committee, said: “After several appeals, all of which were turned down, Mr Newman continued to ignore the council’s instructions to restore the windows back to their original state. Planning regulations are there for good reason, in this case to preserve the character of the conservation area, and we have no hesitation in going to court in such cases.

“I would encourage anybody who is in breach of planning regulations to contact officers straight away to discuss resolving the matter before formal action has to be taken against them.”

Mr Newman now has eight weeks to provide the council with a timescale of work to restore the windows.