Gas Safety Regulations 2018 – A Landlords Guide
The 1998 Gas Safety Regulations required landlords to complete gas safety checks on their rented properties, within 12 months of the installation or the last check. This resulted in many landlords undertaking the checks early so as to avoid them facing issues with access, which could have resulted in them failing to comply with the regulations.
This, potentially resulted in the landlord undertaking more than the statutory checks required, which lead to increased cost to landlords.
The new Gas Safety Regulations do not remove the obligation from the landlord to carry out annual gas safety checks, but they do allow some flexibility in that the landlord has an option to renew the gas safety check up to 2 months prior to the “deadline date (this is the end of the 12-month period), and following completion of the check, the record will be treated as if it had been completed on the last day of the 12-month period of validity. This option is only available to landlords who can prove that the previous 2 checks were carried out on time.
Another change is in relation to the replacement of an appliance, or the addition of a new appliance – the gas safety check for the aforementioned appliances can be carried out up to 14 months after the installation. This is only permitted once in relation to each new appliance.
As a minimum requirement, the last 2 records must be retained by the Landlord – it is advisable to retain more where possible.
A failure to comply with the regulations can result in unlimited fines and/or up to a maximum of 6 months in prison. The Local Authority is also empowered to take action.
With effect from the 1st October 2018, landlords will be required to provide a valid gas safety record to all tenants, prior to the commencement of a tenancy, a failure to do so will result in the landlord being unable to serve a valid Section 21 Notice.
Renata Del Luongo
August 2018