Should the seller get the boiler serviced?

[Teenagerantruns]

So we are finally after many years of renting buying a flat.
We are 5 months in even though it is a short chain its taking forever.
We asked our seller to get boiler serviced as she has never done this and its old, she is refusing and im not sure why?
Flat prices have fallen since we offered, there is the same flat for sale in the block we offered on at £ 10k less, although it needs more cosmetic work
We love the flat we offered on but won't have money to replace a boiler straight away.
So what would you do? We can walk away our landlady is going to sell after we move and not bothered when we go.
We would lose about £600 in solicitor fees and survey.
We are cash buyers.

My ILs had their boiler serviced regularly, replaced it when necessary, we had it serviced when we put the house on the market when FIL died and it still broke down completely 6 months after the new owners moved in.

Im not sure I would, walk away from a purchase if I really liked the place, but you could ask for some of the sale price to be held back by the solicitor in case you needed a new boiler.

No

Even if it was a fairly new boiler, not having it serviced fucks the warranty, some manufacturers allow it to go over by 3 -6 months but some are very strict.
If it’s a Worcester or a Vaillant, they need a full service every 5 years which replaces the top seals and electrodes.

OP It isn't something I would get hung up on, but it's up to you. Make a decision and go with it.

This is a decade old. No warranty

That's not old mine is 26 years old never had a problem with it.

It is not required at all. I wasn't asked for mine I have just completed sale.
Even the EPC rating doesn't include the boiler.

Well she still refusing we are not in a rush, l even offered to pay.
We are looking at flats in the same block now that are cheaper, up to her l suppose.

If she’s refusing even with your offer to pay, I’d say she knows it won’t pass. I’d get solicitors to ask via email if she knows of any known issues with it. If she lies she can get in trouble…

She really doesn’t sound all that fussed about the sale

and nor do you

difference is… you’ll be £600 down

But a number of us on this very thread have said we would say… no

You are going to have to get used to this, OP.

When you own your home, there is no landlord that will ride up on his white horse to fix every problem you have with the house.

Is it possible it broke during summer and she’s avoiding getting it serviced because well, she’ll be rumbled? A boiler service costs about £90 and it seems daft to potentially lose a sale over that.

It seems strange to walk away from a sale over a boiler service, which doesn't guarantee it will work the day you move in, especially this far in.

We are selling and not getting our boiler serviced. Why would I pay to try and dig out and uncover any problems?
My boiler works perfectly fine, I have no intention of digging around it to try and find something wrong 🤷‍♀️
Its a silly reason to not go ahead with buying the house, you are buying the bones of a house, the location, the size, not things that will definitely replaced now or later.
They will of been asked if its working, if you move in and it isn't working then they will have to pay for it, not you.

Have to agree with feeling uneasy with her being so difficult. It's one thing to say she doesn't want to do it and pay for it (although a bit pathetic for the sake of £100) but to refuse to give you access for you to have it done feels like something you'd only do if you have something to hide. When I was selling, there were various things my buyers demanded that I thought were pointless and annoying but the debate was always over me not wanting to pay, not preventing them from happening.

Sometimes it's not the boiler service alone that you drop out for, it's because the seller behaves in a way that undermines your trust in them and the property they are selling. When what you are buying isn't a "one-off" then you have plenty of freedom to pick and choose sellers as well as properties.

If you wind up finding something in the same block some of the solicitor work will be transferable so you should lose all the money you've already stumped up.

It's not the fact that the boiler might break down, it's the chance that there is a gas leak that has gone undetected and is an explosion/fire risk. So it depends on if you are willing to take that risk on an old and/or unserviced boiler.

Best case scenario - you move in, immediately spend £90 getting the boiler serviced, and life goes on.

Worst case scenario - you move in, find out the boiler is knackered/dangerous/not working, and you have a £2,000 bill to fix/replace it.

If you can't get any assurances as to whether it is working, then maybe negotiate some money off the price. Not sure I'd walk away over it....although not having it regularly serviced does make you wonder how much other house maintenance she's scrimped on.

She's under no obligation to service it.... same as a car - no-one is going to force you to service it, but you can expect a buyer will pay you less for it, because of the risk of something which needs to be put right.

Not weird at all. Whilst it's her property she can do as she likes. When/if it becomes yours that's when you get to do what you want.

Well, we are looking at the other flats tommorow, honestly im sure the boiler is fine but her not letting me pay someone to service it makes me uneasy, all our cash will be used buying somewhere, l would rather not have to pay £3k on a credit card for a boiler as soon as we move. We are so close to exchange after months but we csn wait.

Make her get it serviced, this will ensure that it's safe from day one, and also if it's unsafe or unviable that is factored into the final sale price. A new boiler can be quite expensive. It's a perfectly reasonable ask.

Yeah it's all negotiation so this is your choice. I would lower my offer to match others in her area and add it's also due to risk of her not being able to prove boiler is safe.

Then, call D&G if boiler over 15 years old, as they insured ours and fixed even though 20 years old. But likely depends on boiler make etc so call to see if can negotiate. They fixed ours free of charge and we only paid insurance for 6 months after that.

If under 15 years old, get insurance with them online and kicks in after 30 days.