Question

Energy Efficiency Improvements (England) | Energy Performance Certificates (England) | Gas Safety (England) | Landlord Responsibility for Repairs and Maintenance (England)

Replacement of gas heating with electric heating

21 Oct 2016 | 1 comment

Hi,

I have two questions:
1) A tenanted property’s boiler just packed up. The gas engineer says it’s repairable however the local environmental officer insists that the boiler should be replaced instead of repairing it due to the fact that this is a very old boiler. IS this right?

2) Is is legal to replace the gas heaters with electric heaters instead?

Regards

Answer

1 Comment

  1. guildy

    1) If the repair fixes the problem and the boiler then continues to operate perfectly for 2 years then the officer will have been wrong! If however, it breaks again in a month (most likely outcome) then the officer will have been proved to be right. There is no definitive answer and it’s just an opinion (an opinion I happen to agree with because once a boiler reaches over 10 – 12 years or so, in our experience they never work properly and just keep breaking. In the long run we find it’s cheaper to just put a new boiler in).

    2) You would only be able to put electric in if you could show the cost to the tenant of running was equal to or less than the gas system currently installed. Alternatively you could negotiate with the tenant and get it agreed to move to electric – such negotiations may involve a rent reduction to reflect the extra running costs to the tenant. Any agreement should be in writing and signed by both parties to avoid later dispute. I guess putting electric in would generally devalue the rental of the flat in any event especially when advertising.

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