What health and safety is a landlord responsible for?

Health and safety of a tenant will ultimately be a landlord’s responsibility, whether they manage the property themselves or have someone managing everything for them, the one who could face possible penalties, fines and even in extreme cases criminal charges, will be the landlord.  

Major Safety obligations

There are 3 major safety elements that the landlord must have addressed and meet certain criteria with, which are effectively the things that can cause an instant threat to life of an occupant, these are as follows…  

1. Gas Safety

You will need to ensure all gas equipment is installed by a Gas Safe registered engineer. In addition, all gas appliances need a 12-month Gas Safety Certificate which you will also need to provide to tenants.  

2. Electrical Safety

In extreme scenarios older properties may need re-wiring or maybe even new consumer units, which is a considerable cost, but essentially your electrical tests must pass certain standards. The main responsibility you are going to encounter is the display of PAT (portable appliance test) stickers. As the name suggests you are required to ensure all portable electrical appliances you supply to the property are safe to use with this simple test. You can have a certified electrician check all sockets and appliances and supply these.  

3. Fire Safety

Fire safety covers, smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, fire prevention, fireproofing and fire escape routes. Smoke alarms must be present on every level of the property. Carbon monoxide detectors must be present in every room that has a solid fuel burning appliance such as a wood stove. If you offer a furnished property, all furniture must be of a certain fire safety standard. If you operate a large property such as an HMO you will also need to supply fire extinguishers and blankets. Lastly there must be clear routes of escape. In a house this would be unobstructed back and front doors (for example), in an apartment block then this would be the fire escape routes built within the building. You will need to regularly provide evidence that smoke alarms work the day any new tenants move in. Although you may not legally have to have a carbon monoxide detector (as most properties won’t have a solid fuel burning appliance) many landlords and management companies have these installed anyway.

More Landlord responsibilities

After these first major factors of health and safety things can become a little more complicated as you can have different types of lease contracts with your tenants, outlining who is responsible for what. For example, an FRI lease makes the tenant responsible for the condition of the building, this is common in commercial investments where the tenant may be a restaurant business (for example). If you are looking to invest in any standard residential, student or short-term-let property then we would recommend you have everything covered or ensure your management company is doing so. We can break this down into 2 categories…

4. The responsibility of Repairs

Many repairs may not present an immediate risk on the same level as fire or gas but can cause health issues or possible injuries in some scenarios.

• The property is structural sound internally and externally
• The property has working sanitary fitting (baths, sinks, pipes etc…)
• The property is heated and has a hot water supply
• Gas appliances, pipes, flues and ventilation are all maintained and working
• Electrical wiring is safe and to working standard.
• Common areas like staircases are safe to use

   

5. The Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHRS)

HHRS has different levels depending on how severe the potential hazard is. As a landlord you will want to ensure anything classed as category one is taken care of. Not to do so will trigger the local authorities to act on the owner. In a worst-case scenario, a property or room can be condemned as inhospitable, therefore you cannot legally rent it out until the problem is fixed.

• Leaking roof
• Mould on the walls or ceilings
• Rats, pest or vermin infestations
• Broken steps at the top of a flight of stairs
• Exposed wiring or overloaded electrical sockets
• A dangerous or broken boiler
• Excessively cold bedrooms
• Poor security