Servicing Your Boiler as a Landlord

As a landlord, it’s your responsibility to provide heating, hot water and gas and maintain the pipes to the property to ensure good living conditions for your tenants.

Your boiler should be serviced at least once per year to make sure that the property is safe to live in. If an accident occurs and you haven’t had the boiler serviced, then unfortunately, you could be liable for the consequences.

Landlord Boiler Service Law

A landlord boiler service is a little different to a boiler service that you may be used to when considering your own home.

As a landlord, the law falls on you. You need to ensure that your home is completely safe and habitable. This means that you need to have the whole boiler, pipes and appliances serviced at least once per year to provide a safety certificate.

For this reason, it’s also a good idea to seek out boiler cover. You may want to ensure your boiler, especially in an old property. A replacement or new parts could take away a huge amount of the money that your tenants pay in rent without cover.

Usually, it’s possible to get boiler cover as part of home emergency insurance cover for landlords, making your monthly payments a little easier and also meaning that you can get a boiler service quickly, without having to wait in a queue.

You should also remember that the longer it takes you to service a boiler, the more damage it could do to your home. A damaged or broken boiler could cost more money in pipe repair or moisture damages. Legally, if you put off the repair of a boiler and this puts your tenants at a detriment, they could ask for a reduction in their rent too. Fixing the problem as soon as possible is always the best way forward.

Who is Responsible for Boiler Servicing?

The Landlord and Tenant Act (1985) states that plumbing and boiler servicing is ultimately the responsibility of the landlord. However, section 11 under the Act states that tenants must take reasonable measures to look after the home while you aren’t there.

Here are some top tips to follow in order to keep your boiler in perfect working order:

Ventilate your Home

If your tenant is drying washing in the home, try to advise them to open the windows, or even dry washing outside. They should also always open the windows when taking a shower. These things can prevent damp and mildew from building in the home.

Bleed the Radiators.

As landlords, this is still your responsibility. You should ask the firm servicing your boiler if they would complete a check on the radiators too. This prevents air-lock build-up and means that the home can stay warm without wasting energy. You could even ask your tenants to do this regularly. However, it’s ultimately your responsibility if something goes wrong.

Avoid Frozen Pipes.

Throughout winter, your pipes will get cold and freeze if they have water in them. Make sure that your tenant is regularly turning on the heating. Leaving it off for weeks at a time could lead to water freezing and expanding – bursting the pipes and creating issues within the walls.

Corvee Services offer a reliable boiler service in Wellingborough, Northampton, Kettering, Corby and all surrounding villages. Their dedicated team will assess your boiler and help you to keep it in good working order. They understand your obligations as a landlord and are fully certified to assist you in keeping on the right side of landlord boiler service law.Contact Corvee Services today for a professional boiler service quote.