Boiler Not Repairable In Rented Property

MrsWenger

I would be grateful for any guidance in relation to this post please. Apologies if it is not the correct thread, would a moderator move it if there is a more suitable option please.

My sister lives in a rented property in rural Norfolk and the boiler is leaking. She tells me her elderly landlord arranged an engineer to visit who diagnosed that it cannot be repaired. Apparently the boiler is over 20 years old and it isn’t serviced annually. The landlord has received a quote for £7000 for a replacement and has said he cannot afford to fund the replacement and, as he is elderly, he cannot get a loan for it. He had hoped his family would be able to help financially but they can’t. It has been suggested that my sister pay for it and it is offset against the rent but she has categorically said she will not do this. 

She can heat hot water with the immersion and she has a wood burner in the lounge too. The landlord has said he will drop in some electric heaters for her to use. My sister has had an initial conversation with him about a rent reduction and will discuss it again when he visits.

My sister has recently had an oil delivery, it cost just under £300 and obviously this cannot be used as the boiler is switched off. The landlord has suggested she try and sell it to a neighbour and gave her the phone numbers for some companies she could pay to do the transfer between tanks.

What is the best approach here please? My instinct is that the landlord should be sorting either the boiler or handling the sale and pump transfer of the oil but I am not familiar with landlord obligations.

Just in case it helps, my sister is a long term tenant, over 10 years, and she lost her husband earlier this year so she would like to stay at the property if possible.

user1977

Yes, landlord responsibility to fix the heating, but it sounds like he's not denying it's his responsibility? More of a practical problem if nobody has the funds to sort it out.

MrsWenger

Thank you for your reply user1977. 

You are correct, he is not denying it is his responsibility. However, is it an acceptable approach to expect my sister to fund the replacement and offset it against the rent?

When she bought the oil there was no issue with the boiler. Is it reasonable to expect her to sell this on and pay the associated charges to have it transferred? 

For my understanding, is there any obligation for a landlord to service a boiler annually? It hasn’t been done in the 10 years my sister has lived there.

user1977

1. Not normally, but it might be if that's the easiest route to getting the heating working again? What alternatives would your sister prefer to explore?
2. Again, not normally, but what would she rather do about it?
3. No specific requirement to service oil boilers (and no annual safety certificate a la gas boilers either) but landlord has the general responsibility to keep them safe and in working order.

tacpot12

The landlord is not obligated to service the boiler annually, but they ARE obligated to safeguard the tenant's safety and it is difficult to show that they are doing so if they aren't having the boiler serviced. (Source: Understanding Safety of Oil-Fired Boilers for Landlords | GRL (landlordsguild.com))

The landlord should have been putting money aside from the rent to replace the boiler. (All landlords should be doing this as soon as they buy a new boiler - you can guarantee that in 20 years time it is going to need replacing). 

As the landlord hasn't done this, I would say the best thing to do is for your sister to loan the money to the landlord, and put a charge on the property. A solicitor will do this for not much, and the cost can be added to the loan. The landlord needs to buy the boiler and consider what servicing may be needed to meet the warranty criteria.  

You sister can pay her all her rent to the loan account, but she will need to keep a record of the interest and the payments made. Ideally, this would be done with a spreadsheet where the landlord agrees that the spreadsheet calculates interest correctly, and your sister (assuming she has savings), pays her rent into the savings account she withdrew the cost of the boiler from so that there is a record of every payment she made. This could mean that the landlord receives no rent, or just enough to be able to pay for the servicing that is needed to meet the warranty criteria. 

If she goes down this route, it would be a good idea to try to involve the landlord's family in the negotations so that they are aware and none of this is a surprise when he dies. 

MrsWenger

user1977 said:

1. Not normally, but it might be if that's the easiest route to getting the heating working again? What alternatives would your sister prefer to explore?
2. Again, not normally, but what would she rather do about it?
3. No specific requirement to service oil boilers (and no annual safety certificate a la gas boilers either) but landlord ha the general responsibility to keep them safe and in working order.

Thank you again user1977.

My sister asked me for my opinions on the topic as she no longer has her husband to discuss issues with. I have never rented property so I am not sure how these situations are normally handled hence my post to ask for opinions.

My sister has a good relationship with the landlord so she has no firm ideas at this time as to how to approach all of this with him. She has refuted the suggestion that she pays for the replacement and I don’t expect her to change her mind in that regard.

Thanks for confirming on the topic of annual servicing.

MrsWenger

tacpot12 said:

The landlord is not obligated to service the boiler annually, but they ARE obligated to safeguard the tenant's safety and it is difficult to show that they are doing so if they aren't having the boiler serviced. (Source: Understanding Safety of Oil-Fired Boilers for Landlords | GRL (landlordsguild.com))

The landlord should have been putting money aside from the rent to replace the boiler. (All landlords should be doing this as soon as they buy a new boiler - you can guarantee that in 20 years time it is going to need replacing). 

As the landlord hasn't done this, I would say the best thing to do is for your sister to loan the money to the landlord, and put a charge on the property. A solicitor will do this for not much, and the cost can be added to the loan. The landlord needs to buy the boiler and consider what servicing may be needed to meet the warranty criteria.  

You sister can pay her all her rent to the loan account, but she will need to keep a record of the interest and the payments made. Ideally, this would be done with a spreadsheet where the landlord agrees that the spreadsheet calculates interest correctly, and your sister (assuming she has savings), pays her rent into the savings account she withdrew the cost of the boiler from so that there is a record of every payment she made. This could mean that the landlord receives no rent, or just enough to be able to pay for the servicing that is needed to meet the warranty criteria. 

If she goes down this route, it would be a good idea to try to involve the landlord's family in the negotations so that they are aware and none of this is a surprise when he dies. 

Thank you for your reply tacpot12.

I must say I was surprised that a long term landlord had not accrued a reserve of money for repairs. 

I will certainly share your feedback on the potential solution but I am fairly confident she will not want to do that. When her husband died I assisted with all of the necessary admin and renegotiated contracts with various suppliers with her permission as this was something her husband had always done.

The landlord’s son, who tends to deal with the property in general, is aware of the situation. He was unable to assist his father with funding as his money is pledged to investments.

MrsWenger

Something else I suggested to my sister was that the landlord might consider getting more than one quote for the boiler replacement. I have no idea whether £7000 is reasonable or not but I have always considered it prudent to get more than one quote in circumstances like these.

user1977

MrsWenger said:

Something else I suggested to my sister was that the landlord might consider getting more than one quote for the boiler replacement. I have no idea whether £7000 is reasonable or not but I have always considered it prudent to get more than one quote in circumstances like these.

Yes, £7000 sounds hefty to me. And is it only one engineer's opinion that has condemned it so far? And is that also the source of the £7000 quote....?

pramsay13

I would definitely get another opinion or two and some other quotes. 
I'm not sure about oil boilers but £7000 does sound a bit high. 
If it does need replaced what solution does your sister have?
Her paying for it if she has the means and reducing the rent for a number of months seems a sensible option.

MrsWenger

user1977 said:

MrsWenger said:

Something else I suggested to my sister was that the landlord might consider getting more than one quote for the boiler replacement. I have no idea whether £7000 is reasonable or not but I have always considered it prudent to get more than one quote in circumstances like these.

Yes, £7000 sounds hefty to me. And is it only one engineer's opinion that has condemned it so far? And is that also the source of the £7000 quote....?

Thanks again user1977. As I understand it, an engineer visited and determined that it could not be repaired. He doesn’t install new ones apparently so he gave the landlord the contact details of another engineer who can. It was the second engineer that quoted £7000.