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The boiler in your buy-to-let is more than just another appliance. It is essential for creating a safe and comfortable living environment for tenants. Considering boilers are among the most expensive appliances in a buy-to-let, it is also in the landlord’s best interests to know how to maintain it properly.
As well as the obvious benefits of a functioning boiler for both landlord and tenant, landlords also have several legal obligations regarding the upkeep of the boiler in their rental property.
This article explains the duties landlords hold concerning boiler maintenance and offers helpful tips and practical advice for managing the boiler in your buy-to-let.
The Law Surrounding Landlord Boiler Maintenance
As a landlord, you are responsible for ensuring that the rental properties you manage are safe and comfortable for tenants. This includes ensuring the property has a safe, fully working, and well-maintained heating and hot water system.
Landlords’ legal responsibilities regarding boilers are laid out in the Landlord and Tenant Act (1985). According to the Act, landlords are obligated “to keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the dwelling-house for space heating and heating water.”
Where tenant properties are heated using a gas boiler, landlords must also comply with the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. These regulations state that landlords must ensure that all gas appliances are maintained and in a safe condition. They must also arrange annual gas safety checks for all relevant gas appliances.
Therefore, according to the law, the landlord must always arrange boiler repairs and ensure its safe and proper upkeep.
Consequences of Non-compliance with Boiler Obligations
Landlords that fail to maintain or repair a boiler in a property they manage leave tenants in uncomfortable and unsafe living conditions.
Many houses in the UK are badly insulated, and leaving tenants without any heating, particularly during the colder months, is not only uncomfortable and bad for their well-being, it could also be very dangerous for more vulnerable tenants.
It’s not only tenants that are at risk from an unheated home either; your property could suffer too. Without heating, the property may develop condensation, damp issues, and mould problems, causing an even more unsafe living environment and damage to the property over time.
Landlords that fail to comply with the laws surrounding boiler maintenance, repair, and gas safety endanger their tenant’s safety and well-being and could face fines, legal action, or even imprisonment.
Landlord Boiler Responsibilities
Once you’ve familiarised yourself with these important laws, it’s time to think about the responsibilities and legal obligations you have surrounding maintaining the boiler, heating, and hot water systems in your rental properties. Let’s turn these responsibilities into actionable steps to see exactly what needs to be done.
- Ensure all rental properties have a fully-working heating and hot water system.
- Arrange for the boiler to be serviced annually.
- Arrange for an annual gas safety check with a GasSafe registered engineer.
- Ensure all pipework is maintained.
- Safely store copies of all gas safety reports for at least two years.
- Provide all tenants with a copy of the gas safety check within 28 days of it being completed.
- Provide new tenants with a copy of a valid gas safety check before they move in.
- Arrange for boiler repairs within 24 hours of a problem being reported.
- Install a CO2 alarm in every habitable room that contains a gas appliance like a boiler.
- Check the CO2 alarm is working before tenants move in.
Tenant Boiler Responsibilities
So, we know the landlord’s responsibilities, but does the tenant have any responsibility for maintaining the boiler?
The tenant is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the boiler, heating, and hot water systems. This could involve tasks like turning the heating on and off and setting heating and hot water schedules.
It is also the tenant’s responsibility to promptly report any concerns or problems with the boiler.
The only time that the tenant may be held responsible for paying for boiler repairs or maintenance is if the landlord has evidence that the tenant is responsible for damaging or breaking it.
What is a Boiler Service?
Your boiler should have two different checks each year; a boiler service and a gas safety check. Some gas safety checks also include boiler servicing and vice versa, but this isn’t always the case, so it’s always best to check.
The gas safety check is a legal requirement for landlords, but the boiler service is not. However, an annual boiler service is usually required to maintain your boiler’s warranty. It also helps to keep your boiler in good working order, reducing the likelihood of it breaking down or becoming faulty, so it’s best practice to have one.
During a boiler service, an engineer will inspect the parts of the boiler to ensure that everything looks in good condition and clean the inside.
What is a Gas Safety Check?
A gas safety check covers all gas appliances within a property, not just the boiler, and should always be carried out by a professional and qualified GasSafe engineer.
During a gas safety check, the engineer will check that all gas appliances within the property are in good working order. They will also inspect the property’s chimneys, flues, and ventilation channels.
When inspecting the boiler, the engineer will check the boiler pressure, air supply, and safety devices. They will also check how efficiently the boiler is burning gas.
At the end of the gas safety check, the engineer will issue a gas safety certificate that gives details of the inspection and any potential safety issues detected or remedial work required.
Landlords are required to give all tenants a copy of the most recent gas safety certificate when they move in and within 28 days of a gas safety check being carried out.
What is Landlord Boiler Cover?
Landlord boiler cover is a type of insurance policy for landlords that covers the cost of boiler callouts, parts, and repairs.
There are different levels of cover, including boiler only, boiler and central heating, and home emergency cover. Home emergency cover usually includes boilers, heating, plumbing, electrics, home security, and more.
Many landlord boiler cover policies are all-in-one solutions that include boiler insurance, annual boiler servicing, and gas safety checks.
Each policy and service provider are different; it’s important to shop around and do your research before taking out boiler cover. Make sure you know exactly what is included in the policy before you sign on the dotted line; you don’t want to think you’re covered for something you’re not.
Popular boiler cover service providers include HomeServe, British Gas, EDF, 24/7 Home Rescue, and AXA.
Landlord Boiler Maintenance Tips
If you don’t yet have a strategy for maintaining the boiler in your buy-to-let, then this section can help you to formulate one. From all-in-one boiler plans to choosing the right boiler, we have plenty of tips to make boiler maintenance simple and hassle-free.
Take out all-in-one boiler cover – As a landlord, you probably have a lot on your plate, particularly if you manage multiple properties or work full-time around your landlord commitments. Taking out an all-in-one boiler cover plan helps to eliminate some of the admin involved with remembering and arranging your annual boiler service and gas safety check. It can also help to lower the cost of repairs.
Keep up with boiler servicing – Boilers that are well-maintained and cared for stay in better condition for longer. Keeping up with boiler servicing in the short term can help you to save money on repairs in the long term.
Watch out for boiler cover auto-renews – To ensure you’re always getting the best price on your landlord boiler cover, note when your policy ends and shop around to see if you can get a better deal before renewing. If you let the policy auto-renew, the price often goes up for the second year, and you may no longer get a competitive rate.
Educate your tenants in boiler care – The sooner boiler or heating problems are identified, the easier they are to fix. If you can educate your tenants on how to look after the boiler and heating system and the issues they should look out for, they can help you look after your investment daily. Show tenants how to check the boiler pressure and recommend they don’t leave the heating switched off for long periods during the colder months to avoid the pipes freezing.
Replace old boilers before they reach 15 years old – As boilers age, there is more chance of something going wrong with them, and it can be more difficult to repair them if they break down. It can also be difficult to get boiler cover for very old boilers. If a company agrees to cover an old boiler, it may charge an excess fee depending on your chosen policy.
Install a boiler with long-term value – It can be tempting to choose the cheapest boiler possible for your buy-to-let, but this is a false economy. Dirt-cheap boilers are more likely to require repairs sooner than high-quality boilers from trusted brands. Investing a little more and buying a boiler from a high-quality brand can save you a lot of time, hassle, and expense later down the line. Recommended boiler brands include Worcester Bosch and Vaillant. Look for boiler models with long guarantees and excellent customer reviews.
Signs that your Rental Property May Need a New Boiler
As a landlord, you must rely on property inspections, boiler servicing, gas safety checks, and tenant feedback to assess when it’s time to invest in a new boiler.
As a rule of thumb, it is best to replace a boiler in a buy-to-let before it reaches 15 years old. You may struggle to find a provider that will offer cover for boilers over this age, and if they do agree to cover it, you’ll probably find yourself hit with a pricey excess charge.
As well as the boiler’s age, the following warning signs could indicate that it’s time to replace the boiler in your buy-to-let.
Frequent problems – If your tenants are frequently reporting problems with the boiler’s performance, or it keeps breaking down, then it could be a sign that it’s reaching the end of its lifespan. Rather than repeatedly paying for repairs and troubleshooting problems, it may be more cost-effective and less hassle for everyone involved to bite the bullet and get it replaced.
Gas leak – If your tenant ever reports a funny smell coming from the boiler, it is probably a gas leak. A gas leak is an emergency, and you should instruct your tenant to open all the windows and doors and get everyone out of the property immediately. Someone should also call the Gas Emergency Services for free on 0800 111 999. Once a boiler has had a gas leak, it is unsafe and must be replaced.
Rising energy bills – Modern boilers are more energy-efficient than older models. If your energy bills seems to be climbing and climbing without any real explanation, it could be down to the boiler’s age. Investing in a new and more efficient model will benefit both the environment and the billpayer’s wallet.
It’s difficult to get hold of parts for repairs – If it is becoming difficult for engineers to source the parts for your boiler’s repairs, this could be a sign that it is getting old and needs replacing. As parts become more difficult to source, this tends to increase the price of repairs. If your boiler needs frequent, expensive repairs, it may be more cost-effective to replace it now.
Yellow flame – The flame inside a boiler should always burn blue. If a tenant reports that the boiler’s flame is yellow, this is a sign of a serious problem. A yellow flame could mean the boiler is leaking poisonous and odourless gas carbon monoxide.
Often, a simple repair can rectify the problem when things go wrong with a boiler. But it may be safest and most cost-effective to invest in a new boiler if the boiler is very old, has had a serious fault, or is frequently breaking down.
Looking after the boiler in your buy-to-let property keeps your tenants happy and cosy and prevents you from getting in hot water with the law. Failure to comply with boiler maintenance laws and regulations can have serious legal percussions for landlords, so boiler care should always be a priority.
