Boiler Not Repairable In Rented Property

caprikid1

"For comparison you can get a Vokera Easi-Heat Plus 29C boiler for £1750 - and yes that includes fitting.   They’re advertised all over eBay."

I think if you read through you might realise that the above is a budget Gas Boiler and the OP needs an Oil boiler.

To the suggestion of a Heat Pump , many rural properties have poor insulation due to their age, a simple install of a head pump is not the norm for such properties with every radiator often needing changing more insulation and solar power to prevent sky high electric. A decent suitable installation in a Rural property covering insulation and solar could be in the region of £20,000.

Flugelhorn

ThisIsWeird said:

Let's hope the 'elderly' LL does not still have a mortgage. In theory, he shouldn't have. In which case, he should largely have been benefiting from the higher interest rates. 
But, if the LL has genuinely struggled to build up a maintenance fund from these many years of rental, it does beg the Q, 'why'?
Is he incompetent? Living beyond his means? Allowing his son to 'invest' on his behalf, which means tying away the cash beyond easy grasp? Or what? All of these would seem to suggest he shouldn't be a LL.
Or, is the rental amount so below 'market' rates that there just hasn't been any profit?
All these possible reasons are looking uncomfortable for the OP's sis'.
So she may have to be bold with considering solutions. 

I think there are plenty of people around who claim to have very little in savings (one person's little in savings is £100, while another's is £100) - they pleased poverty and are quite happy to help spend other people's money 

Seems off if the LL can't replace a boiler - or indeed the son .. unless the "investments" are of the gambling variety and he is actually in debt 

ian1246

Heat pumps a terrible suggestion. Had a quote from Octopus a few weeks ago - £7000 after grants. That didn't include any upgrades to insulation needed.

RHemmings

I believe that there are boiler companies that will install a boiler on credit and then put a charge on the property. They may not do so for an 80 year owner, but it may be worth having a look. 

One property I looked at when buying had a charge on the property, and when I googled the company, it was a boiler company. 

E.g. https://www.britishgas.co.uk/heating/new-boiler.html?source=CHI-Google-PPC&cid=PPC.cid_cname=BG-PPC_Boiler-Installs_Drive-Action_Conversion_Non-Brand_Generic_Always-On_BAU&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw05i4BhDiARIsAB_2wfAoE2JVWA_V8rAhQYkzNaS6Df5cAR8s5EQ8a6lsOh9_pBDtUZCWLPwaAmFbEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds  

I found a lot more such when I googled. 

Keep_pedalling

It sounds horribly like this landlord is not meeting his legal obligations, if he is not servicing the boiler then it is highly unlikely that he is having annual safety checks done. I would also question what else he is doing wrong, is her deposed protected for instance.

I think I might be looking for somewhere else to rent 

user1977

Keep_pedalling said:

if he is not servicing the boiler then it is highly unlikely that he is having annual safety checks done.

As I mentioned above, I don't think oil boilers require an annual safety check (at least not as a specific obligation).

FlorayG

This is entirely the landlord's problem; if your sister was to move out, he wouldn't be able to re-let it until the boiler was fixed. "I can't afford it" is not a reasonable excuse.
If your sister can afford it, the only recourse is for her to pay for a new one and have a LEGAL agreement that this covers the rent for X months/years. I would also want it to cover MORE than the actual amount expended as during that time your sister could have been doing all sorts of other things possibly with that money
The other option is to take the landlord to court but if he doesn't have the money that's not really going to help

EssexHebridean

Hoenir said:

Practically speaking if finance is an issue to rectify the matter. Making a move to other accommodation might be the best way forward. As the LL s going to have other property costs to bear in the future. Selling up may well their only option. 

I'd be inclined to second this, as much as obviously there is a lot of upheaval involved in that plan. If the LL is already failing to budget for necessary and expected maintenance on the property, and that is with the OP's rent coming in, it's hard to imagine that it wouldn't cause him substantially more issues to have that rent stopping as it is going to pay off a boiler install being funded by the tenant (OP's sister). If the sister is going to be reluctant to get any loan arrangement formally recognised, it's not too difficult to foresee a situation where in a few months LL decides that he needs to sell the property, and the sister is left with a new LL who then expects her rent to be arriving as would be usual. While that may well be "sortable" I would imagine it would be stress that the sister could do without. 

Kim_13

FlorayG said:

This is entirely the landlord's problem; if your sister was to move out, he wouldn't be able to re-let it until the boiler was fixed. "I can't afford it" is not a reasonable excuse.
If your sister can afford it, the only recourse is for her to pay for a new one and have a LEGAL agreement that this covers the rent for X months/years. I would also want it to cover MORE than the actual amount expended as during that time your sister could have been doing all sorts of other things possibly with that money
The other option is to take the landlord to court but if he doesn't have the money that's not really going to help

That may be the best thing for him. If he isn’t in the position to replace a boiler that has lasted more than a reasonable length of time, then he cannot afford to be a landlord. If he cannot re-let the property then he will be forced to sell it.

The ‘nuclear’ option would be to report to the council that the boiler has broken and LL has said he cannot afford to fix it. The council should send someone to assess the property which will then reveal any other things he has not been doing (but not the likes of insurance etc, as they are concerned with the property being safe to live in.) They will see that the works are done if the property is considered hazardous as is as LL cannot afford it and recover the cost from him, probably a charge against the property in this case. Might the LL agree this was the best way forward or would he be likely to view it as a hostile action?

If your sister takes this route, LL would not be able to start proceedings to evict for 6 months after this but he might for example alert his family members that the council are involved, especially if he was not aware that it would happen. They should be able to see that he is out of his depth and may well advise him to get out of the rental market ASAP, which would lead to your sister needing to find somewhere else. Given his age, there’s also an increased risk that a beneficiary of his would become her LL and she would be forced to move anyway. So it might be an idea to come to an agreement re: rent reduction and move now. If things are badly out of date and eg. Rewiring is needed for an electrical safety certificate to be issued, he’d probably increase the rent.

brett19852010

caprikid1 said:

"For comparison you can get a Vokera Easi-Heat Plus 29C boiler for £1750 - and yes that includes fitting.   They’re advertised all over eBay."

I think if you read through you might realise that the above is a budget Gas Boiler and the OP needs an Oil boiler.

To the suggestion of a Heat Pump , many rural properties have poor insulation due to their age, a simple install of a head pump is not the norm for such properties with every radiator often needing changing more insulation and solar power to prevent sky high electric. A decent suitable installation in a Rural property covering insulation and solar could be in the region of £20,000.

I know its just an example but Vokera boilers seem to be terrible. Of course for not much more there would be other options.