Thinking about it, the safety of the entire property depends on the products installed into it and most landlords can expect that, after taking a
month's deposit and a month's rent in advance, most tenants will be too skint to buy anything more than the cheap'n'cheerful, fire-hazard brand (no such thing as s/h gas appliances, either). Gambling with their own asset, that would be.
Plus the massive moving-in outlay of new appliances would deter all except the mythical entity - "person who rents but is able/allowed to take their previous rental's white goods with them when they move home".
Basically, rental agreements are clear cut - furnished or unfurnished and should have terms which resolve any ambiguities so the tenant knows exatly what they're letting themselves in for, right at the outset. This kind of disagreement shouldn't even have a chance to arise.
Short answer: I concur with other replies - it's his to fix. 'Fair wear and tear' and component replacement costs should be set out in the rent agreement. Does he get you to replace the lightbulbs too?