Seller's estate agent being difficult about boiler repairs- advice needed

[QuintonMan]

Afternoon everyone,

We are FTB expecting our first child in February and are currently in the process of purchasing the following house: www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/107992601#/?channel=RES_BUY.

When placing our initial offer, we negotiated down to £257,000 and then increased the final offer to £260,000 on the proviso that the likely faulty boiler would be replaced by the seller if found to be faulty (home buyers survey confirmed this).

From our POV we need essential services to be working ready for the baby in the new year and would struggle to replace the boiler and also undertake the necessary repairs/renovations.

The seller undertook electric and gas safety checks, replacing the electric consumer unit which was appreciated.

However, we are now in a position where the estate agent on behalf of the seller is challenging the request to service and replace the boiler. She is stating that because the boiler is '" gas safe" (but not serviced) this was the only requirement.

We would be open to paying for the service ourselves if necessary but are firm that the cost of replacement is met by the seller and that we have an agreement regarding the model used.

I'm conscious that we are now very close to exchange and this is the final hurdle. To go back to the market would likely cost us at least 10-20k more on the mortgage for similar quality of the house (due to price increases) and I would like to avoid this If possible.

Is possible, does anyone have advice on how best to proceed in this situation?

Thanks!

I don't understand why you would struggle to replace the boiler yourselves? It's quite straightforward usually.

Did the vendor pay for gas and electric checks and also to replace the consumer unit? I think you were lucky they did if so.

You're on the backfoot really, in a market you admit is rising, you want the vendor to do something you could easily arrange for yourselves.

do you mean the solicitor for the vendor cos I cannot really see that it is really any business of the estate agents

I think at this stage if you want the boiler changed you can say it's £260 with a new boiler, or £257 without, to see if that rattles them up, but be prepared to fund the boiler yourself if you have to.

I am also in the middle of a sale and just siad to dh about getting the boiler serviced for our buyers, and to make sure one is done on any new house.

A new gas boiler will likely cost about £2,200 all installed. A new consumer unit is about £500 for a 10 circuit house.
For their £3000 extra, they should do both. Or ask for the receipts for the work they have already done and negotiate down from there. Last time I replaced a boiler, it took 5 days from failure/first call to being installed and working.

@LaurieSchafferIsAllBitterNow This was the estate agent yes and not the solicitor.

I am coming to the conclusion it will be likely we'll end up paying for this ourselves.

It does seem to me, more moral to have a boiler serviced before putting a property up for sale to avoid situations like this!

@PragmaticWench Struggle financially for the large outlay which could be several thousand upfront. (we have relatively high income for our area and age but low amounts of savings once deposit and purchase costs are taken into account).

I believe some of the issue comes from our parents who have advised not to proceed unless the seller will meet the requirement as they feel uncomfortable at us moving into a house with poor/no heating.

@Mintjulia Agreed, I did put forward we were prepared to negotiate the purchase price back down to £257,000 if they did not want to replace the boiler (and we would do ourselves to save them the hassle) although the estate agent stated it was very unlikely the vendor would go for this option.

I should add for context that the house we are buying is vacant with no chain and the seller is a developer/landlord who were previously renting the property.

Op when are you moving? Is it soon? It seems an odd request, if you’re moving in the next couple of months then it isn’t really a hardship to go a few days without a boiler - i’d understand if it was after the birth of your baby but that’s not til next year.

Boiler replacements are one of the ‘easier’ jobs to get done because you can search for a trader on the register of approved gas fitters and they should be relatively trustworthy. It’s not like finding a carpenter or builder where they’re not regulated.

Honestly I would never get the vendor to do stuff like this. I’d rather get someone in that I trust and that I’ve paid so that I know I’ll be happy with the final work and I have some comeback if something goes wrong. Nothing to stop the vendor employ Mr Bodge the cowboy. Or if something goes wrong for the gas fitter to say that his contract wasn’t with you.

From the other side, you’ve offered on a house with a presumably ageing boiler so I’d be telling you to pay for your own brand new boiler if that’s what you want especially if the current one has a gas safety certificate.

I can see this from your point of view, it you need also to consider the seller point of view. The boiler is gas safe. Does that mean it as current gas safe certificate (as previously rented)? If so, does the boiler really need to be replaced right now? If you take our British Gas insurance, the service will be included.

You say that now prices have increased in the area by 10k to 20k. That means the seller, who is chain free with a vacant house, could easily get another buyer. They’re a very attractive seller. Something to think about.

@stealthninjamum We are moving hopefully asap, currently in rented and have security here to extend if needed. My wife is very reluctant to move into the property without this being sorted prior to moving in.

@thecapitalsunited I agree about the risk of cowboy contractors which is why we have asked for prior agreement over the contractor being used. We did also put forward that we would just reduce the cost from the overall purchase price back down to £257,000 but this has been refused.

I might be missing something but I don't get your position. If the boiler needs replacing I'd rather do it myself and choose the hardware and the installer myself. Your seller has done more than most and I think you are pushing your luck to ask more, particularly when they could get more money by remarketing.

@QuintonMan Was your valuation knocked down due to the boiler? Because if it didn’t then you’ll have to ask yourself whether it’s worth walking away from what you’ve already paid out over a few thousand pounds. It’s not the normal thing to get boilers changed by the vendor because you’ll have seen how old it was on the viewing and offered accordingly.

Before I opened this thread, I knew you were going to be FTB. I remember there being loads of similar thread on Money Saving Expert forum in the past.

Most people that own their property do not have their boilers serviced / inspected. This comes as a shock to people who have previously rented, as it is mandatory for rental properties, owing to past scandals when landlords did not look after their gas appliances and people died. So FTB seem to think that a boiler that has not been annually looked at will automatically be a death trap and hold up a purchase like this.

OP - just reduce your offer to the lower price and get it sorted when you move in. The estate agent will definitely not want you to do this, as they don't want to risk losing the sale / upsetting their customer (the seller not you remember) but the seller probably doesn't want to go through the hassle of finding another buyer now they've got to this point. Be prepared to meet half way, good luck, hope your new home and baby all go well.

@eurochick the sticking point really was the original agreement being that we would increase our offer by 3k provided a replacement boiler was installed by the seller if a service found this was needed.

I recognise this may seem like a big ask, although like I say, we did offer to come down back down by 3k if they did not want to honour the original agreement but this has been refused.

NB each property I've bought, I've had all the gas appliances inspected as soon as I moved in and replaced them as necessary. In my current house, we had a lot of work done when we bought it, including replacing the old unsafe gas fire in the lounge and the safe but ugly and outdated gas cooker.

The boiler was also old but all the builders said that it was top of the range, and after a timer was replaced it was working correctly / safely. We decided we would wait until it developed a problem then replace it a few years in the future. 15 years later it is still going strong! If we had changed it for a new one when we had the other work done, it would probably need replacing again now.

So then the question is are you willing to walk away for the sake of £3k?

@Lettitbee thank you for the context, I did wonder if this was an issue that came up often!

Thank you for your advice!

Tbh it would be silly to walk away over this boiler which possibly does not need replacing at all. It is not uncommon for first time buyers to be very wary but basically you will be the losers if you insist on this.

I think the issue here is that they think they've done as requested by providing a gas safe certificate and you think they haven't due to the home buyers report. What exactly did the report say about the boiler and was it done by a gas safe engineer?

I'll admit in your vendors position I would probably just remarket the property.

You've seriously got to ask yourselves if you're willing to lose the house over this issue. What will you do if you lower your offer again but they say no this time?

quintonman I hate to sound unsympathetic to your wife but I think you should just do it anyway - could you arrange to have it fitted a week after completion and then move? Most people have new boilers while living in a house - I did it in a winter with two small kids and some oil radiators - so it really isn’t a big thing.

Just thinking about the two occasions when I’ve had a new boiler we got in quotes and had to make decisions about types of boiler / moving it / putting a cupboard around it / piework. I honestly can’t remember why we were making decisions but the boiler regulations are always changing so it isn’t necessarily swapping one white box for an identical one. I’m sure my utility room now has ugly pipes which weren’t there before and if it were my kitchen I’d have wanted them boxed in. In my previous house we changed the position of the boiler from the floor to above a kitchen unit and gained a cupboard. So this might be something you want to be in control of.

If it was a rented property it would have had a gas certificate every year that would have tested the boiler because it couldn't be rented out unless it passed. So what did the survey say about the boiler?

@QuintonMan

Afternoon everyone,

We are FTB expecting our first child in February and are currently in the process of purchasing the following house: www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/107992601#/?channel=RES_BUY.

When placing our initial offer, we negotiated down to £257,000 and then increased the final offer to £260,000 on the proviso that the likely faulty boiler would be replaced by the seller if found to be faulty (home buyers survey confirmed this).

From our POV we need essential services to be working ready for the baby in the new year and would struggle to replace the boiler and also undertake the necessary repairs/renovations.

The seller undertook electric and gas safety checks, replacing the electric consumer unit which was appreciated.

However, we are now in a position where the estate agent on behalf of the seller is challenging the request to service and replace the boiler. She is stating that because the boiler is '" gas safe" (but not serviced) this was the only requirement.

We would be open to paying for the service ourselves if necessary but are firm that the cost of replacement is met by the seller and that we have an agreement regarding the model used.

I'm conscious that we are now very close to exchange and this is the final hurdle. To go back to the market would likely cost us at least 10-20k more on the mortgage for similar quality of the house (due to price increases) and I would like to avoid this If possible.

Is possible, does anyone have advice on how best to proceed in this situation?

Thanks!

Firstly how old is the boiler? Secondly, replace it asap when you move in. You are nitpicking. If I was the seller I would not want to have to deal with you.

Presumably you’re not bothered about being identified OP?

My boiler was replaced in one day