Brighton landlord
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Here we go again! Yet another new regulation to install carbon monoxide alarms where there is a gas boiler. Don't get me wrong, I am as interested in keeping my excellent tenants alive as I could possibly be but I still think we need to poke under the bonnet when HMG comes along with another regulation. One response, of course, is to flog off the property, which is what we are doing with one of our two properties because, as letting is becoming ever more of a hassle, we want to reduce our work and the chance that Christmas will be ruined when a tenant has an emergency by 50% (and because I expect CGT is going skywards next year).
Anyway, we still have another flat and I have two questions on the proposed new rules. Firstly, you only need them "in any room used as living accommodation where a fixed combustion appliance is used". Well, when they come in, I'll be asking the excellent NRLA advice team the following question: where the gas boiler is not in the flat proper but is in a lockable walk-in cupboard on the half-landing below the flat (the boiler being vented through the outside wall) with an opening window, said cupboard also containing the washing machine (and some storage if you are lucky), is that "used as living accommodation"? A secondary question is (NB I am a complete layman) if you have a gas boiler serviced with the annual certification, is it possible for said boiler to become a carbon monoxide death-causing hazard within 12 months - and, if so, how?
As usual, I suspect the landlords with the dodgy boilers in small poky flats with no proper ventilation or gas safety certificates who are not members of the NRLA will have a clue about or do anything about this new legal requirement, if it comes in (as it doubtless will).
