In reply to Phill Mitch:
> (In reply to Dan_S) Looking at this from the landlords perspective, it must be clear that this is a simple money matter. £2000 spent on a new boiler that can be bodged up to last another year or 10 is a waste of money. If it lasts a year that means the new one will last a year longer and so on. The window thing is the same why spend time and money on wooden windows while he has a rent paying tenant. When the window falls out or he can't get a new tenant he will put in UPVC for a fraction of your months rent.
> Why would he care about you leaving if he can easily get more tenants?
> Boilers do break, it's a cold country and nobody likes being cold but shit happens.
> Sorry for sounding like I have no sympathy, I do have some but I am trying to put you in the landlords position. It is all about money.
I do appreciate that it is almost certainly purely money matter. Although I still stay that it is short sighted, if a £200 paint job tarts up the windows for another 3-4 years, or a newly installed boiler prevents a flood which requires re-flooring and re-plastering, the outlay is worth it.
I think what bothers me is that, as I see it, if you're letting out your property, you should maintain the property in the same way you would your own home, as in effect, you're providing a service of providing a home for someone else.
It could be argued that if you want your tenants to keep the the property in a good state, then they need to have pride in where they are living, and if the exterior of the property would fail to make it into a post-apocalyptic movie due to looking to dilapidated, and the central heating system looks like a Heath Robinson special then how can you expect your tenants to take pride, and look after it?
I think this is beginning to move into an area more suited to another thread though.
As for withholding rent, as I don't entirely blame the landlord for the failure of the boiler, and the delay was caused by BG rather than him, I don't think that course of action is entirely appropriate.