Landlords risking lives and fines over gas safety checks
PART-time landlords in Manchester renting out holiday homes, spare bedrooms and properties to earn extra cash, are putting their tenants’ lives at risk and could face a substantial fine for flouting gas safety law, according to new research released today by British Gas.
The independent national survey reveals that one in five part-time landlords – people whose rental properties are not their main source of income – has either failed to have a gas safety check carried out on their property in the last year, or has used a contractor, who is not Gas Safe-registered: such contractors are not qualified, safe or legal to carry out the check.
All landlords, including those who provide short-term lets, have a legal responsibility to carry out an annual gas safety check of their property.
They are required to use a Gas Safe-registered engineer, and for the check to be recorded in detail on a Landlord Gas Safety Certificate.
Gas safety checks pick up a range of problems including faulty boilers and are vital in helping to prevent gas leaks, explosions and carbon monoxide poisoning.
Failure to carry out gas safety checks could result in fatalities, yet more than a third (34%) of the growing breed of part-time landlords are unaware they could be putting their tenants’ lives at risk.
By contrast, 70% of them have made the effort to communicate with tenants about non-life threatening issues, including rules for pets and parking regulations.
More than a third (34%) of those surveyed are unaware that gas safety checks are a legal requirement and 40% were unaware that they are obliged to have a valid Gas Safety Certificate (CP12). A quarter of landlords surveyed had no idea the gas safety check should take place once a year.
Barry Sheerman MP, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Carbon Monoxide Group (APPCOG) said: “It is shocking that 34% of landlords in the ‘non-traditional’ rental sector – which includes holiday lets, Airbnb accommodation, and lodgers – do not know that they are legally obliged to have a safety check conducted on all gas appliances in their premises.
“I urge all landlords to have their gas appliances serviced by a Gas Safe Registered engineer on an annual basis, to ensure that they are in safe and functioning order, and that holidaymakers and others staying in their properties are safe from CO poisoning.”
British Gas engineer Sheena Anker said: “Although they may only rent out a room or property for a few weeks each year, it’s crucial for part-time landlords to ensure that their tenants are kept safe, and to stay on the right side of the law.
“I’ve visited properties and seen unsafe appliances which either haven’t been serviced in years or have been installed by illegal gas fitters.
“Worryingly, tenants are often oblivious to the danger they are in. To stay safe, tenants should ask landlords for a copy of the Gas Safety Certificate, following a check from a Gas Safe-registered engineer.”
