20^th May 2019

A lettings inventory and property compliance specialists is claiming that many thousands of landlords are failing to address household hazards in their properties.

The company studied around 60,000 property inspections rental property reports. It has discovered that 4,521 properties had one or more household hazards found by the Housing Health & Safety Rating System (HHSRS) in each inspection.

The most common issues reported were:

Smoke detectors: The biggest concern with 40% of all problems found with properties having a faulty detector or none at all.

Stairs: 26% of assessments reported dangerous stairs which could result in a fall between levels of a property.

Electrical issues: Accounted for 11% of the hazards found during the health and safety assessments.

Carbon monoxide: 7% of assessments carried out reported that working carbon monoxide detectors were not present in properties.

Damp and Mould: 4% of the properties found to contain high levels of damp and mould throughout.

Structural integrity: 2% of the properties were in danger of structural collapse and falling elements.

Founder of the company, Jonathan Senior, said: “While many landlords are providing up to scratch accommodation, it’s really quite worrying that we’re seeing so many fail to address some of the most serious hazards in the home.

“The lack of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and the danger of falling on stairs ranking as high as they do is particularly worrying. These are classed as category one hazards and so there is no excuse to have them present in a rental property.

“With the introduction of the Fitness for Human Habitation Act in place since the 20th March this year, along with many additional changes in legislation, landlords and their agents are now more at risk of being sued by tenants for breach of contract for unfit properties.

“It is therefore more vital than ever that landlords ensure their properties meet the required minimum health and safety standards.”


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