Ready to exchange but boiler appears broken after my final viewing

silverbanana

Hi all!

Hope you can help me. First time buyer currently about to get on the housing ladder!

I am 1-2 weeks away from the contract exchange and completion but my solicitor insisted I see the house one final time to ensure it's in the same condition, etc as when I first viewed it a couple of months ago.

On my first viewing the gas/electric was off - and it was also off when I had my survey done. It was a former rental property and has been unoccupied.

Today I had my final viewing. I went to put the (14 year old) combi-boiler on to check it is in working condition (plan was to put it on and check the radiator warmed up, advice I found in a post on here). When I turned on the power switch on the wall it made an awful sound - a very loud, constant buzz. The LCD display on the boiler didn't function, no lights, etc. 

I need to go back to my solicitor but not sure what my options are or what on earth to say - I don't want to buy a house with a broken boiler as I am told they are quite costly to fix (was planning on getting insurance in the first instance till I can afford the outlay). Or am I worrying about nothing and it just needs some quick work.

Any help will be appreciated,

All the best,

Stuart

Edit: Hopefully I am allowed to post, here is the YouTube of the boiler's noise: https://youtube.com/shorts/RBRQ2N1AeTg?feature=share

kazwookie

Ask the vendor via your solicitor for a condition report regarding the boiler, ie does it work, when was it lasted service, if is doesn't worjk what is wrong with it, is there a formal service report.

What is on the fix / fitting report.

silverbanana

kazwookie said:

Ask the vendor via your solicitor for a condition report regarding the boiler, ie does it work, when was it lasted service, if is doesn't worjk what is wrong with it, is there a formal service report.

What is on the fix / fitting report.

Thanks for your reply.

I did ask them for proof the boiler worked earlier on in the process and they produced a service from Dec 2021 from a gas engineer (I couldn't read the handwriting - as it was rented out I believe annual servicing was required). As such their solicitor told mine it doesn't require anything else.

Then today it was broken.

user1977

If they had turned the gas and electric off, I'd have thought it likely they'd also have turned off (and drained) the water - did you check the heating circuit was up to normal pressure before you turned on the boiler?

silverbanana

user1977 said:

If they had turned the gas and electric off, I'd have thought it likely they'd also have turned off (and drained) the water - did you check the heating circuit was up to normal pressure before you turned on the boiler?

Oh, no! I didn't! I told the estate agent I wanted to check the boiler was working, he hadn't turned it on when I turned up, I just turned it on at the wall and it made that noise and didn't actually turn on on the boiler itself.

GDB2222

user1977 said:

If they had turned the gas and electric off, I'd have thought it likely they'd also have turned off (and drained) the water - did you check the heating circuit was up to normal pressure before you turned on the boiler?

It should have a pressure switch inside, so it won’t work at all unless the boiler circuit is pressurised. 

Besides that, they may not have drained the boiler as that’s not so easy.

GDB2222

Ask for £2k allowance for a new boiler?

housebuyer143

Ask for an up to date service. That will ensure it at least functions.

Bendy_House

silverbanana said:

kazwookie said:

Ask the vendor via your solicitor for a condition report regarding the boiler, ie does it work, when was it lasted service, if is doesn't worjk what is wrong with it, is there a formal service report.

What is on the fix / fitting report.

Thanks for your reply.

I did ask them for proof the boiler worked earlier on in the process and they produced a service from Dec 2021 from a gas engineer (I couldn't read the handwriting - as it was rented out I believe annual servicing was required). As such their solicitor told mine it doesn't require anything else.

Then today it was broken.

Have a look at that 'service' document again, and see whether it's actually a 'Gas Safety Cert'. The GSC is a LEGAL annual requirement for a rented property, whereas an actual 'service' is not.

The former checks for 'safety' concerns like gas leaks and stuff. The 'service' actually checks over the boiler to see that it's working properly - they are quite different things.

You have asked the vendor for 'proof that the boiler was working', and they gave you this Cert' (whichever one it was). That clearly is not proof that the boiler works, so perhaps ask your solicitor to ask theirs for current actual 'proof', as was requested earlier in the process.

On a connected note, you can expect a 14-year old combi to be creaking, and not long for the world, so budget for - ooh - £2-3k for a replacement over the next couple of years.

Probably. :-)

diystarter7

Bolier may be on it's last legs.
Seek about 2300 to 3k discount if the place is costing more than 350. If sub 100k, then seek about 1400 to 2k
You can always try more or less but it's down to the owner to agree as you know

Good luck.

macman

A service or GSC from 12/21 is utterly worthless. It could have stopped working ten months ago. Get an RGI to test it and if it's o/s then negotiate the price down accordingly.