Safety Guidelines for Rental Properties

You must ensure an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) has been undertaken at the property before it can even be advertised for let. These can be carried out by a qualified assessor and measure the efficiency of your property in relation to energy usage and its’ environmental output, defined by a rating from A (the best) to G (the worst). The good news though is that the EPC does last for ten years from the day that it is issued.

From April 2018, it will be illegal for you to let any property to new tenants which falls below an E rating. If your property does fall below that rating, then contact our office now and we will be happy to help you devise a plan to increase your rating.

Every gas appliance in your rental property must be checked at least every twelve months to ensure that it is safe to use and a certificate produced to prove this. This can only be carried out by a Gas Safe registered gas engineer and must be in place before any new tenancy can start.

Failure to abide by this is illegal, and there are severe punishments including fines of up to £5,000 and/or imprisonment.

When it comes to electrical safety, you as a landlord have a responsibility to your tenant to ensure that all electrical outlets and appliances in your property are safe. It is a legal requirement to have an Electical Installation Condition Report (EICR) certificate in place before renting a property and throughout the tenancy. These usually last for 5 years and we are able to arrange all this for you.

As from April 2014, as a landlord you now have a legal duty to ensure that the risk of your tenants being exposed to the legionella bacteria is assessed and controlled. The start of this process is to conduct a Legionella Risk Assessment, and then follow this up with regular checks.

As part of our Full Management Service we carry out checks for you whilst undertaking our property inspections.

It is a legal requirement that you must have a smoke alarm on each floor of your property and that they must be working on the day that tenants move in. It does not matter whether this is battery or mains powered.

In addition, any room with an open fire or solid fuel burning appliance must have a carbon monoxide alarm fitted.

All furniture and furnishings must comply with current standards regarding flammable materials and display the appropriate label confirming this. As a general guide only, any items purchased after 1^st March 1990 from a reputable company will normally comply.

Any items that do not comply must be removed from the property before a tenancy can commence.

Belvoir Loughborough can assist you in arranging for all of these checks to be conducted, prior to tenants moving in and throughout the tenancy. For more information, please do not hesitate to contact a member of our team.