Research has found that private rental landlords in the UK
are openly ignoring Gas Safety regulations, It would appear this is not just an
oversight, with 75 % of tenants left without a valid record for their entire
tenancy
Annual Gas safety inspections (GSI) have been a legal
requirement in rented properties for some years now and i would think that even
the most naive of landlords would at least know about this one piece of
legislation if nothing else.
So you can imagine my shock when this week i have dealt with
3 cases where a landlord has not had a GSI carried out.
The first, bit of an accidental landlord, had a new boiler
installed 2 years ago and assumed it was like a new cars' MOT and he didnt need
a GSI for 3 years, happily a quick phone call and some advice and a
recommendation of a good Gas engineer and crisis averted.
The second, not so cut and dried, the landlord had purchased
the property 5 years ago with the current tenant in occupation, the previous
owner/landlord has religiously had GSI carried out, when the new owner took
over, in his wisdom decided that as there had been no issues reported with the
last lot of GSIs and he had all intentions of replacing the boiler in a year or
two he couldn’t really see the point in paying to 'service' something he was indenting
to replace.
A phone call this time didnt do the job and a strongly
worded letter has been sent his way, if no reply and no GSI is done, we all
know what my next step must be.... HSE
Now for my personal favourite, this landlord rented out his
property for the first time in 2008 using a local letting agent, a GSI was
done.
when the first tenancy expired the landlord ditched the
agent and took over the rental himself.
There were a further 7 tenancies.... but no further GSIs
After a little investigation it transpired that the gas
engineer instructed in 2008 was actually the landlords own contractor this
would show the landlord was fully aware of his legal responsibilities.
This case has resulted in a call the HSE and an immediate
investigation, going by the information on HSE website a landlord can face a
fine of upto £20k for every GSI not carried out and if the case is taken to
High Court can face imprisonment.
A recent case Health and Safety Executive v Raymond Williams
2015 A landlord from Torquay illegally carried out annual gas safety checks at
his properties despite not being a registered gas engineer, a court has heard.
He potentially put his tenants’ lives at risk by carrying
out the statutory safety checks himself between April 2013 and October 2014. He
also fraudulently filled out landlord’s gas safety documents using a fake Gas
Safe Register number.
HSE prosecuted the
landlord at Torquay Magistrates’ Court after his work was investigated
following a complaint from one of his tenants.
The court heard that the landlord carried out his own safety
checks at five properties in Torquay and one in Newton Abbott. The checks
should only have been carried out by a registered Gas Safe engineer to ensure
the highest standards are met.
The landlord pleaded guilty to four breaches of gas safety
legislation and was fined a total of £12,000 and ordered to pay £418 in costs.
Carbon Monoxide is a silent killer, Department of Health
research showed that around 4,000 people will present themselves at hospital
with CO symptoms in a twelve month period. In the last year there have been
more than 50 deaths as a result of CO poisoning, with 16 of those attributable
to faulty gas appliances
As a landlord if your tenant dies and no GSI has been carried
out this is a criminal offence and you maybe up on a murder charge.
For the sake of £60 per year, why put lives at risk and face
huge fines that outweigh any pennies you may have saved.
