Industry leaders push for upgraded gas safety checks in the private rented sector

Sounds like a campaign for increased rents!!

Every responsible Landlord would check that the heating system is working correctly prior to every new tenancy to avoid unnecessary call outs to avoid expense and inconvenience.

Why just the private rented sector again?

‘Just because we’re paranoid doesn’t mean that everyone isn’t against us.’

What can be more ‘meaningful’?

An annual check to ensure that any gas appliances (for which the LL IS responsible) is fully safety compliant and a legal requirement!

Add on the cost of servicing and guess what….the rent will increase!

Anyway I thought boilers are to become obsolete by 2030 and not fitted?

Cart before horse, horse before cart, or just cart and no horse???

Stewart Clements is ignorant of the workings of an MOT test.

There is no requirement to have a car serviced for it to pass an MOT and the safety critical items tested are only done without any dismantling. An engine’s health is only reported on in terms of whether there are excessive emissions or leaks of oil or fuel – pretty much the same as a boiler.

Whilst Stewart no doubt has a new lease car every three years or so, beware folks – an MOT tells you only about what is tested, there are many more things a potential buyer needs to consider and they are NOT covered by the test.

(That said I have a service completed at the time of annual gas safety check).

There is a difference between an inspection and a service inspection does minimum tests. If a boiler is compliant then it was to be safe.

The service requires stripping out parts, this can take considerably longer. This means the cost for doing this is considerably more and in the PRS the tenant has to be at home for longer or below access.

The boilers are made to be safe and they’ve been working fine over decades, are the boiler manufacturers saying the boilers are no longer safe?

If they were saying they are definitely needed then it’s not just for the PRS. It has to be for every boiler installed. Problem, there’s not enough plumbers who are gas certified.

It is nice to see that they are concerned with giving the landlord more information with which to plan for the next purchase (and the next rent increase).

These people are talking a load of rubbish, gas safety checks can determine if an appliance was working efficiently, if for example burners were clogged with debris or other build up of deposits, the flame quality deteriorates and flue analysers would reveal that, one should not disturb a perfectly working and a sealed appliance just to inspect as that process in itself can cause more problems in future i.e. poor seals, and appliance starts leaking CO into the premises, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, boilers don’t have oil and filter to change like in cars, So they want to save tenants a few pounds in a slightly poor running boiler at the expense of landlords, that is madness as landlords would add any extra costs on to rents and so the tenants would be the ones worst off. Further more all boilers now have many sensors that determine if there was a problem with central heating or hot water flow, so flagging fault codes. These hot , water industry “bodies”are showing stupidity at their best. For so long we have had no real issues, and whenever there are issues Landlords do send in Engineers to do the necessary repairs and service.

Further to my comments above, it would be more appropriate if the boiler manufacturers updated their software that can determine the fall in efficiency through existing sensors that sense flow temperature v/s flow rates and cold water input temperature so computing rise in temperature measured against flow and gas rate being used again with already build in sensors.

My student rental includes all bills…no amount of “significant bill savings” will benefit the tenants. Same applies for the EPC nonsense…

The way its going I’ll be having tenants asking to take the boilers out. Why even service them if they are never used and gas account always in arrears?

Many don’t turn them on as it is – and I have to chase for them to get back out of emergency credit just to get the annual checks carried out.

With standing charges on both gas and elec, I had one T ask to disconnect the gas completely as she never used it (yet still paying s/c) so she could just use electric plug in oil heaters to move around as she pleased (which is what she was doing anyway).