Landlord's views please...

furbabyrehomer

Hi all

I would like some landlords views on something which is confusing me.

I rent my home and ,as the boiler is over 16 years old, it is not very efficient and often has problems. The gas engineer who did the last service said parts are not available when it does finally break down.
I looked into the possibility of a new boiler on a scheme which provides and fits a boiler totally free of cost and found I qualify.
I asked the landlord about it, sending all the relevant information.
His reply was that as long as the boiler is running and deemed safe that is all he is concerned about. Could a landlord please give me a reason why the chance of a free boiler would be refused, because to me this makes no sense whatsoever.

kirkbyinfurnesslad_2

Its it not broken dont fix it

furbabyrehomer

Thanks. It still doesn't make sense to me to turn down something for free.

GwylimT

A landlord has to ensure the boiler is in safe working condition with yearly checks, they have no duty on top of that. While it would be nice, there is no point replacing it until they have to.

benjus

I'm not familiar with these schemes, although I've skimmed the guide on this site. What exactly do they cover?

If they simply cover supplying a new boiler and the fitting costs of a like-for-like swap, there could well be further costs that the landlord would have to cover. What about if the boiler had to be moved? Running a new gas supply pipe? Powerflushing old radiators to avoid ruining the new boiler (modern boilers tend to be more delicate than older ones)? Installing a filter for similar reasons? Removing the water tank and cylinder (if replacing a system boiler with a combi)?

This kind of job often ends up being more complex and taking longer than expected, especially if the system is old.

G_M

To me, the replacement of a 16 year old boiler by a free new one (I presume the ECO scheme?) is a no brainer. I would at least get a survey done, and see if the property & boiler qualified, and whether there were still funds for 100% of the cost. And if not, what my contribution would be.

Yes, as Benjus says, there may be 'extra' costs (modern Building Regs could require additional extras), but even so, it is worth at least investigating, if not doing.

It will reduce the hassle or future breakdown call-outs, increase the lettability of the property, and increase the house value.

However, some LLs may simply not want the bother. The paperwork. The admin. The hassle.

The boiler works, so why do anything?

anselld

Is it the ECO scheme (i.e. you are in receipt of benefits) or the Green Deal?
The LL would be the "no-brainer" if s/he turned down a free ECO boiler.
However if it is Green Deal then you and all future tenants get stuck with higher bills and it would not be sensible for the LL to accept in that case.

Robbie_Ward

In my opinion this Green Deal or whatever it is called should NOT be available to landlords,the landlords who after all get a good,decent return from the property,or properties they rent out should in my opinion be made to pay the full costs of replacing old,inefficient and possibly unsafe boilers and in my opinion it should be the law that landlords have to new,efficient system or combi boilers in the property or properties they rent out and no open flued appliances,ie gas fires should be allowed in rented properties either.If I was buying a property to rent out there would only be two gas appliances I would allow namely a good,decent combi boiler and a gas hob as they are both fixed appliances,nothing more.

whalster

In the autumn statement the government changed the goalposts yet again, it's an ever changing thing .
A tenant of mine had a new boiler fitter last month the process was simple and easy and all I had to fill in was a consent form.
I have a further five tenants who have had the survey and qualify I have given consent however they have been put on hold with the scheme changes .
Effectively the energy companies have said to the government that their profits are being hit too hard by having to pay their energy company obligation money which they claimed added £50 to the average multi fuel bill in the UK . So the lib cons have said ok as long as you promise to pass on the savings we will scale back your ECO payments ,do we think they will do this Mmmmm,m!
So the long and short of it is I have tenants in limbo ,as said above at this stage I would not change the boilers they are 9 years old still pretty good worcester boilers with plenty of life in them and never break down however they are only half as efficient as the new ones off the production line .

Never mind we will all be getting 50 quid back from the big six suppliers !

when_will_it_end

I asked the same question to my LL a few years back and received the same answer


a few weeks ago it was obvious the very old boiler is on its way out, I was then asked was I on benefits so as to take advantage of the scheme, im not on benefits of any sort now so the LL has lost out and will be forking out a substantial amount of money in the very near future

Robbie_Ward

whalster wrote: »

In the autumn statement the government changed the goalposts yet again, it's an ever changing thing .
A tenant of mine had a new boiler fitter last month the process was simple and easy and all I had to fill in was a consent form.
I have a further five tenants who have had the survey and qualify I have given consent however they have been put on hold with the scheme changes .
Effectively the energy companies have said to the government that their profits are being hit too hard by having to pay their energy company obligation money which they claimed added £50 to the average multi fuel bill in the UK . So the lib cons have said ok as long as you promise to pass on the savings we will scale back your ECO payments ,do we think they will do this Mmmmm,m!
So the long and short of it is I have tenants in limbo ,as said above at this stage I would not change the boilers they are 9 years old still pretty good worcester boilers with plenty of life in them and never break down however they are only half as efficient as the new ones off the production line .

Never mind we will all be getting 50 quid back from the big six suppliers !

Well if they work well enough,keep them but if they need changing at any time then as far as I am concerned YOU the landlord should pay for new boilers when they are needed out of YOUR own pocket and not expect the hard pressed taxpayer to pay for it for you or your tenants.