Landlord
Legal
Obligations

Landlord Legal Obligations

As a landlord you should know that you are responsible for the safety of your tenants.
There are five main obligations that all Landlords must comply with:
• Gas Safety and Servicing
• Energy Performance Certificate
• Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarms
• Legionella
• Electrical fixed*

GAS
SAFETY/
SERVICING


ENERGY
PERFORMANCE
CERTIFICATE


SMOKE/
CARBON
MONOXIDE


OUR
LEGIONELLA
SERVICES

Gas Safety and Servicing:

If you leave a property equipped with gas appliances you have three responsibilities:

MAINTENANCE – gas pipework, appliances and chimney/flues need to be kept in a safe condition
GAS SAFETY CHECKS – gas appliances and flues must be checked annually by a Gas Safe
registered engineer
RECORD – a record of the annual safety check must be provided to the tenants.

Failure to maintain gas appliances could result in a prison sentence, unlimited fine, or both.

The Gas Safety (installation and use) Regulations 1988 are the current regulations, which came into force on 31st October 1998 and supersede the previous 1994 regulations and their amendments.

HOW CAN WE HELP?

One of our Gas Safe Engineers can check your gas appliances and provide a gas safety certificate.

Whilst our engineer is at the property, he can also carry out a full annual service to the boiler at a discounted rate. Servicing the boiler annually helps to promote the life span of the boiler.

WHAT IF A LANDLORD DOESN’T COMPLY?

If a landlord does not have a valid Gas Safety Certificate, or does not do works required, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has the power to prosecute. Failure to follow gas safety requirements is a criminal offence and can be punished by fines or imprisonment.

In addition, for new tenancies starting on or after 1st October 2015, landlords who fail to provide a Gas Safety Certificate to the tenants will not be able to serve a Section 21 notice on the tenant.

ENERGY PERFORMANCE CERTIFICATE

The Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015 establishes a minimum level of energy efficiency for privately rented property in England and Wales.

This means that, from April 2018, landlords of privately rented domestic and non-domestic property in England or Wales must ensure that their properties reach at least an Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) rating of E before granting a new tenancy to new or existing tenants.

These requirements will then apply to all private rented properties in England and Wales – even where there has been no change in tenancy arrangements – from 1st April 2020 for domestic properties, and from 1st April 2023 for non-domestic properties.

The relevant person who is responsible under the regulations are the prospective landlord when the building is being rented out and the seller when being sold. When the building is being constructed, it is the person who carries out the construction.

HOW CAN WE HELP?

Our assessor can provide you with a new EPC and it is valid for a period of 10 years. Should the rating be below an E, we can obtain quotes for the works necessary in order to increase the rating to the acceptable standard.

Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarms:

The regulations regarding smoke and carbon monoxide detectors have been tightened in recent years and as a result all landlords need to be aware of their legal responsibilities or face fines of up to £5,000.

The guidelines require landlords of all rental properties to:
• Install at least one smoke alarm on each storey used as living accommodation. Your Local Authority may have local regulations which require more stringent conditions. This also includes cellars in properties.
• Install a carbon monoxide detector in any room that contains a solid fuel appliance which includes coal or
wood burning fires and stoves. Wood burning stoves installed since 2011 must already have a carbon monoxide detector and a certificate proving they have been safely installed. The certificate must be kept as it will be required upon sale of the property.
• All smoke and carbon monoxide alarms must be tested to ensure they are in working order at the start of each tenancy commencing on or after 1st October 2015.
• The replacement of batteries during a tenancy is a tenant’s responsibility. However if the alarm requires replacing and is not working, then this becomes the landlord’s responsibility.
• Smoke alarms have an expiry date printed on them. Once this date has passed the alarm will need replacing.

HOW CAN WE HELP?

We can inspect the property and check all smoke alarms.

Should they need replacing, we can install 10 year long, life sealed alarms. Price dependant on quantity required.

LEGIONELLA

As a legal responsibility landlords need to ensure that their properties are free of the Legionella bacteria that can cause health problems to the more vulnerable tenants.

WHAT IS LEGIONELLA?

Legionella is the name given to the collective
group of the bacteria that causes Legionnaires disease. The bacteria is often found in water systems, including domestic shower systems and water pipes, which means it could be present in any property.

Landlords are legally bound to make sure that their properties are free from health hazards under Section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, and Legionella is covered under it.

If a property is occupied and the water is kept moving round the system, there shouldn’t be any real threat to anyone’s health.

Should the property be un-occupied for a certain time with the water sitting dormant in the system, certain checks should be done to ensure that Legionella is not present within the property.

HOW WE CAN HELP

Our agents can carry out a Legionnaires Disease Risk Assessment before a new tenancy starts and between
tenancies where the property has been empty for a long time.

A full report would be completed and signed by the tenants when moving in.

Pricing is dependant on size and age of property and the current water systems in place. Please enquire for a personal quote.