Can I insist my boiler is replaced? (Social housing)

[ReeceShearsmithLivesInHull]

I have lived in this house 3 years and every winter when I turn the heating on I have issues. It will completely break down several times over winter leaving us without hot water or heating. We are a household with a disabled child who gets DLA.

The woman who lived in this house before me said the boiler wasn't replaced the whole time she lived there, 17 years. So I assumed the boiler was about 20 years old and it must have been new when she moved in.

We had our gas check recently and the operative said the boiler is 26 years old

26!!

My husband queried to him about having it replaced and he said that our HA doesn't have a team that fits boilers so they just don't do it? But surely that have to at some point?

What makes me even more annoyed is that we have just had to have a full house inspection in regards to 'warm home efficiency' to see if we are eligible for any warm home initiatives such as new external doors, wall and roof insulation.

Surely if they care about heating efficiency they should start with the boiler that is a quarter of a century old?!

I've not put the heating on yet and part of that is because I know as soon as I start using the boiler for heating its going to start playing up and I might lose my hot water 😔

I don't think the age of the boiler is a huge problem. The fact that it breaks down is an issue though 😕. No idea if you can ask them to replace it, but we had a new boiler installed a couple of years ago and it isn't that more efficient then the 25 year old boiler we replaced.

Surely its more reliable?

And google (I know, but I'm not a boiler expert so have to get my info from somewhere) says boilers should be replaced every 10 to 15 years, 10 for standard ones and 15 years for more high end ones and I doubt they splashed out on a fancy one.

I know its not a legal requirement but a 26 year old appliance seems a bit crazy, especially when it keeps breaking down every year and the woman who lived here before me had problems with it for years toop

Edited for typos.

I would email them explain that your boiler is breaking down x number of times per year (they must have records) and ask if it is possible to have it replaced. The guy they send out to fix it isn't the one who makes the decisions. He may be correct but you won't know until you ask the right people.

Boiler age doesn’t matter as long as it’s safe and working - those are the key things. So the fact it’s breaking down isn’t okay and it needs sorting. You will have to be a real pest to the council (?) and insist they fix it. Invole your MP and the local news if necessary (or threaten to).

And a new boiler is far more energy efficient and less polluting. HAs can be so rubbish!

Yeah I think so. I mean legally IDK but it's way too old and doesn't work. Can't you get a plumber to admit as such and then present his evidence to the council? It needs inspecting yearly, there should be a sticker on saying when this happens. Is it passing these inspections or they're not happening?

The consistent breakdowns in the winter may mean that your home is not meeting the threshold for the Decent Homes Standard due to the frequency with which you are without reliable heating and hot water, and you also have a disabled child (are you on the Priority Services Register with your energy supplier?) I would be mentioning these factors in a detailed email to your Housing Officer and be thinking about who else you can involve for support, especially if this issue affects your child's health.

In addition to what I said above about the DHS etc:

Yes, we have yearly gas checks and had one a few weeks ago. That was the guy who told us it was 26 years old. It passed the test but I know when it comes to using it consistently over winter its going to fail.

I don't know what the 'test' is that he did but he was only here 30 mins and checked everything in that time so theres no way he could have turned the heating on and made sure it stayed on for a prolonged time?