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.

I sold my late mother's property a few years ago.

The buyer asked me to get the boiler serviced and I said no, mainly because I knew the boiler was many years old (more than 25 years), in good working order and that my mum had always had it serviced.

The boiler was left on during the property sale. I couldn't find the latest boiler service so sent a copy of the last one I could find, which was two years old. I knew it wasn't a legal requirement and that the buyer couldn't force me to service it. The buyer wasn't satisfied so he asked if he could commission his own gas engineer to inspect it, which I agreed to do.

There were a couple of issues with the boiler and the buyer wanted to renegotiate the price, however as the boiler was deemed to be in good working order and safe, I held firm on the price and the buyer decided to carry on with the purchase, thank goodness.

OP, the seller doesn't have to get the boiler serviced for you, but I would be wary of the seller not allowing you to pay for it yourself. I would explain that I just want to be sure that there are no poisonous fumes escaping from the boiler which could be a risk to my family's health, but that I am committed to the purchase - just want to be sure that it is safe to use, particularly as Winter is around the corner.

Bear in mind that a boiler can break down the day after you move in, even if a service a couple of weeks before didn't reveal anything to be alarmed about.

Fair. Pedantically, it tells them the boiler in the house they are offering on isn’t already broken or unsafe. Which reduces risk a reasonable amount on a boiler that has no service history.

We had to replace the boiler three months in to moving into our house because our seller never had it serviced. If she had done, they would have picked up a common fault and fixed it. Instead it broke in sodding January when it had snowed and we had to spend thousands on a new boiler.

I'd say it gets serviced or I take the cost of a replacement off my offer.

I'd say I was happy for you to have it serviced at your own cost.

It is recommended that either the vendor or buyer gets a safety check done! The buyer before they move in if the sellers won’t. It’s about gas safety and there’s a clear recommendation that this is done. It matters.

I'd be wondering why you'd not be offering on the similar flat for £10k that needs cosmetic work? You could do it up a bit at a time. It sounds like you are paying over the odds for the flat and if the seller can't be bothered to get her boiler serviced each year I'd wonder what else she's let slide.

What did you think of the ones you viewed yesterday @Teenagerantruns

You can ask your solicitor to put a hold-back clause in the paperwork, holding back 1000 pounds or thereabouts as a contingency against the cost of the boiler. She will have to agree to this or get it serviced herself and prove its in working order. That would be her cheaper option (Homeserve will do it for 60 pounds).

She doesn’t “have” to agree to this or get it serviced!

She can lose the sale if she prefers. That's normally the subtext.

A service would expose faults and whether it’s safe. I think not doing this with an old boiler is short sighted. I’d probably reduce offer for an ancient boiler anyway. It’s found to go wrong. If price is competitive, there’s not much wriggle room because the age of it is presumably factored in. At least it’s not mid winter! Time to get it replaced before it’s cold.

To be blunt you will probably have lots of unexpected repairs etc when you first have the house. Boilers don't last forever. If the seller pays for a service that only tells you if it's currently ok. It could still break down in a few months time. You need a contingency fund. If you fear the property is in significant poor repair you can reduce your offer

I just noticed you are cash buyers so could you get a small mortgage and hold onto some of your cash for repairs

So all sorted boiler being serviced at her cost, even though we offered to pay.
Honestly l would be happy to offer on the cheaper flat and do decorating, but my DP is now disabled and dosent want the fuss which l understand. We are also 6 months into this now and just want to move.

What a complete 180 in 24 hours!!!

She has gone from this to saying

Sure you can get it serviced and… I will pay!!

Take it that the boiler is faulty and reduce your offer unless it's serviced

This was the advice our solicitor gave us when buying a property where the seller hadn't had a recent boiler service done. They said it was better that we organise and pay for it to get done by a company of our choosing with the paperwork going directly to us.

I wonder what made her go from complete refusal to allow you to arrange and pay for the service to suddenly saying that not only can you do this but she will pay for it!!

Makes me wonder what she’s uncovered elsewhere! @Teenagerantruns