Lack of maintenance on a property is one of the biggest complaints against landlords. It’s not only tenants who get frustrated with landlords who won’t spend money on keeping the property they are renting up to date, but also good letting agents.
Ask any decent letting agent what one of their hardest jobs is and they will tell you it’s getting the landlord to re-decorate and do essential jobs such as replacing an old, dodgy boiler.
| As a landlord what you want from a boiler is really the same as the tenant, a quality boiler that doesn’t break down very often or require much maintenance. This isn’t as easy as you’d think. On the one hand boilers have come on leaps and bounds over the last 10 years, but this has also caused problems. Key issues are plastic parts replacing copper which have proved to be cost effective for manufacturers but expensive for homeowners and landlords as they keep going wrong and need replacing. | XXX |  |
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XXX | Energy efficient condensing boilers were also all the rage until the snow and ice hit a few years ago. Then letting agents and landlords were inundated with boilers breaking down as the pipe to the outside just froze over, highlighting a major design fault. |
When choosing a boiler, as a landlord you need to consider five key things:-
1. What size boiler you need to make sure all rooms are heated and hot water
is in constant supply
2. Which parts can be fixed when they go wrong, how easily and at what cost
3. Check how long the guarantee will last and if it includes parts and labour
4. Find out what the running costs are
5. See what service options, at what cost, the manufacturer offers or you can secure via a utility company such as British Gas
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In addition, so you plan ahead, also find out what the expected lifetime of a boiler is. Gone are the days when they would typically last 20 years or more. Now its more normal to look at 10 years and poor quality boilers only last 7-8 years. What you should never do though is buy the cheapest and have it fitted by someone who you haven’t checked is an up to date member of the Gas Safe Register. You will be seriously liable for anything that goes wrong with the boiler and any harm or damage it does to the tenants. |
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