When the boiler in one of your rental properties breaks down, usually in the middle of winter, it is likely to be an expensive headache you could have done without. Your tenants will be unhappy at the interruption to their central heating and hot water supply, plus you have a nice big repair bill to look forward to.
Unfortunately, boiler breakdowns are becoming an increasingly vexing problem, and not just for landlords. In the good old days, back boilers were the most common type of boiler and as long as they were serviced regularly, they went rarely went wrong, but even if they DID go wrong, the repair costs were minimal. However, times have changed and these days we are positively encouraged to invest in new combination and condensing boilers when the time comes to retire old faithful in the kitchen.
The new style of condensing and combination boilers are supposed to be more reliable and efficient, but based on breakdown statistics, this is apparently not the case, and because of this an increasing number of people, including many letting agents in the UK, are calling for the government to force manufacturers to provide 10-year guarantees on their boilers.
I know from my own experience how unreliable a modern boiler can be—I was forced to invest in a new boiler a few years ago and within two years it had broken down more times than I care to mention and cost me a fortune in repairs. In the end, I replaced it with another new one, which was an expense I didn’t exactly need at the time. Imagine if the same thing happened in several of your rental properties: your profits would be annihilated overnight! So if you have had a bad experience with one particular boiler manufacturer, spread the word and warn other landlords.
