Can't afford to fix boiler

anselld

You have been unlucky for sure.
You may also be unlucky with your choice of plumbers.  It seems unlikely to me that a five year old boiler is BER.  The problem with plumbers these days is an increasing tendency to treat the boiler as a "black box" and once it is outside manufacturers warranty then to recommend a new one if it breaks down.  All part of the disposable culture these days.
You need to find an old-school boiler engineer who isn't afraid to get inside and fix things.  There is no component part inside a boiler which is impossible to replace at significantly less than the cost of a new boiler.  

numbercruncher8

Has it not been possible to do something else this year?

Someone I know was in the same situation where he was made redundant. He had some savings, but with 3 kids to support and a mortgage to pay he had to do something.

He ended up delivery driving for various companies, the pay was a massive step down and it is very unglamorous but crucially pays the bills and keeps the buffer active. 

The 12 months savings didn't disappear overnight I guess and rather dwindled away over the course of the year whilst no income was coming in. But surely this must have been forseen?

Apologies if I have missed something but there must be jobs out there, even if they are bad jobs on minimum wage. 

What would you do if the boiler issue had not occurred? You still have no income and bills to pay.

Crashy_Time

YorkieDave said:

There have been some really helpful replies on here, thank you for those.

It's quite disappointing to find some of you berating me. I'm not sure what's to gain. If you feel better for it then that's great! I was just looking for practical advice. 

I'm not sure why I feel the need to justify my preparedness, or not, for this situation, but I'll give a bit more information. I have one property I rent out. It's gone swimmingly for 19 years, until this year. I have all the legal requirements in place, TDS and safety certificates and tenancy agreements etc. In 2019, I had enough to cover 12 months rent / bills on the rented house, plus enough set aside for a major repair like a boiler. 
Then both my wife and I were made redundant from separate industries within a short space of time.
We then both went self employed. That means we've had hardly any help during the pandemic.. 
Add to that my previous tenants did a runner at the end of 2019 owing rent and leaving the house like something out of extreme cleans with damage to doors, fittings, walls etc. That cost a lot of time and money to fix.

I've been very careful who I've chosen as tenants, so I think I've been unlucky.
Could I have been more prepared, sure. Will I get out of the property game, yes, as soon as I can! 

You have had rental income for 19 years, but the thread title says you can`t afford to fix a boiler, sorry I am still very confused, what difference does a recent redundancy make to your cash pot or 19 years worth of rental income? I thought the idea of BTL was to provide "multiple income streams"....and make people wealthy.?

Atlas234

As others have said, if the tenants are on housing benefit, you need to apply to be paid directly rather than it going through the tenant. 
If you can't afford a new boiler with your savings, you need to find a way to gain access to credit, either loan/credit cards or some boiler companies use payment plans etc, but I understand getting credit may be difficult in your circumstances.

Crashy_Time

Basically if you don`t fix the boiler their non-payment will just look more justified?

lookstraightahead

Angela_D_3 said:

warwick2001 said:

So, GENUINE question. To the landlords that frequent this thread/website, how many months of 'unpaid rent' do you have set aside, in case every one of your property's tenants stop paying?

So far in this thread, 6 months up to a year appears to be the norm/advised. But if evictions aren't happening for approx. another year or so, do we all expect to see a mass of landlords essentially having to quit landlord-ing (if that's a verb....?) as they haven't received any rent for 18 months or so (due to job losses etc. cos of the pandemic). Like I said, genuine question. I'm not a landlord, so have no 'horses in the race', so to speak. Just interested in the thoughts here 

It wouod tske 6 months minimum before the banks would start proceedings,  therefore if you had 6 months mortgage payments set aside youd be fine.  In theory. 

However not paying is dimply not an option for my tenants.  If they've applied for universal credits snd are awaiting that fine,  if they are working and simply pocketing the cash they'd be out.  You cannot let people take the !!!!!! out of you in any business.  You only rent to people with more to lose than you by not paying,  be that credit record,  guarantors money,  roof over their head.  

Your tenants do have that option, and they wouldn't be "out" (not by you anyway for a long time). You are not in charge of tenants, you are not doing them a favour, and they are your customers. We're not living in the 17th century.
It might be unfair, but the law is bigger than you.

Thrugelmir

YorkieDave said:

I'm not sure why I feel the need to justify my preparedness, or not, for this situation, but I'll give a bit more information. I have one property I rent out. It's gone swimmingly for 19 years, until this year. I have all the legal requirements in place, TDS and safety certificates and tenancy agreements etc. In 2019, I had enough to cover 12 months rent / bills on the rented house, plus enough set aside for a major repair like a boiler. 
Then both my wife and I were made redundant from separate industries within a short space of time.
We then both went self employed. That means we've had hardly any help during the pandemic.. 
Add to that my previous tenants did a runner at the end of 2019 owing rent and leaving the house like something out of extreme cleans with damage to doors, fittings, walls etc. That cost a lot of time and money to fix.

I've been very careful who I've chosen as tenants, so I think I've been unlucky.
Could I have been more prepared, sure. Will I get out of the property game, yes, as soon as I can! 

You took a punt. That's the nature of business. Every day somebody somewhere will be "unlucky".  Through not fault of their own. Focus your energies on extraditing yourself from the situation you find yourself in. While being a decent human being and looking after your tenants in a professsional manner. 

Angela_D_3

grumiofoundation said:

Angela_D_3 said:

warwick2001 said:

So, GENUINE question. To the landlords that frequent this thread/website, how many months of 'unpaid rent' do you have set aside, in case every one of your property's tenants stop paying?

So far in this thread, 6 months up to a year appears to be the norm/advised. But if evictions aren't happening for approx. another year or so, do we all expect to see a mass of landlords essentially having to quit landlord-ing (if that's a verb....?) as they haven't received any rent for 18 months or so (due to job losses etc. cos of the pandemic). Like I said, genuine question. I'm not a landlord, so have no 'horses in the race', so to speak. Just interested in the thoughts here 

It wouod tske 6 months minimum before the banks would start proceedings,  therefore if you had 6 months mortgage payments set aside youd be fine.  In theory. 

However not paying is dimply not an option for my tenants.  If they've applied for universal credits snd are awaiting that fine,  if they are working and simply pocketing the cash they'd be out.  You cannot let people take the !!!!!! out of you in any business.  You only rent to people with more to lose than you by not paying,  be that credit record,  guarantors money,  roof over their head.  

You seem maybe to be under the impression that your boasting about how willingly you would break the law is impressive in some way? I'm sure your response will be that I am "soft" (soft = law-abiding apparently in your world) - reminds me of being in school and who was the 'hardest'.

I would suggest to anyone thinking of becoming a landlord that this poster is maybe not one to listen to since their back up if their 'business plan' fails seems to just be to break the law.

I can only hope you do one day you do try to illegally evict a tenant who is able to take the fight back to you using the legal system and both they and the police take you to the cleaners. In reality though bullies actually like you back down pretty sharpish whenever someone actually stands up to you, I am sure you would be nice as pie to any tenant who clearly knew their rights and made it clear they weren't going to let you bully them. Please do post if this happens though, or maybe we will see you on artfull's rogue landlord thread. One lives in hope anyway....

The trouble is that when people stop paying rent they are the bullies and the thieves.  Holding people to randsom having stolen services they've no intention of paying for.  There’s absolutely no justification for it and no i wouldnt back down under any circumstances at all.  As for the police getting involved,  absolutely hilarious have you not seen the bailiff programmes ? Where yhe police havd absolutely no understanding of the actual law.  Its no doubt the tenants who'd probably be arrested.  

elsien

If they don’t have it, due to a change in circumstances, then they can’t pay it. Have you seen the mess that UC has created for some tenants through no fault of their own?
That makes them neither a bully or a thief. I do hope that the next time you try to unlawfully evict someone, you get your just desserts. 

Angela_D_3

lookstraightahead said:

Angela_D_3 said:

warwick2001 said:

So, GENUINE question. To the landlords that frequent this thread/website, how many months of 'unpaid rent' do you have set aside, in case every one of your property's tenants stop paying?

So far in this thread, 6 months up to a year appears to be the norm/advised. But if evictions aren't happening for approx. another year or so, do we all expect to see a mass of landlords essentially having to quit landlord-ing (if that's a verb....?) as they haven't received any rent for 18 months or so (due to job losses etc. cos of the pandemic). Like I said, genuine question. I'm not a landlord, so have no 'horses in the race', so to speak. Just interested in the thoughts here 

It wouod tske 6 months minimum before the banks would start proceedings,  therefore if you had 6 months mortgage payments set aside youd be fine.  In theory. 

However not paying is dimply not an option for my tenants.  If they've applied for universal credits snd are awaiting that fine,  if they are working and simply pocketing the cash they'd be out.  You cannot let people take the !!!!!! out of you in any business.  You only rent to people with more to lose than you by not paying,  be that credit record,  guarantors money,  roof over their head.  

Your tenants do have that option, and they wouldn't be "out" (not by you anyway for a long time). You are not in charge of tenants, you are not doing them a favour, and they are your customers. We're not living in the 17th century.
It might be unfair, but the law is bigger than you.

The law is a joke.  Your landlord absolutely is in charge of whether you stay or go.  One way or another.  I honestly think some of you live in cloud cuckoo land.  I haven't done it,  ive not needed to be rental agents,  turn off water supplies,  electricity,  let tires down.  They'll get rid of people if they want yo and the police do nothing.