As Landlord of a private dwelling you inherit several statutory responsibilities revolving around the need to secure your tenant’s safety.

These responsibilities involve everything from a basic risk assessment of the property to make sure it is free of obvious hazards (e.g. checking the water supplies are not susceptible to legionnaire’s disease) right the way through to professional checks of electrical and gas appliances and ventilation. Fire safety is also a priority.

As landlord, you must ensure that the property is inspected annually by a qualified, Gas Safe Registered engineer. The inspection usually costs about £80 - 100 and you must provide a copy of the certificate to your tenant. If a new tenant is moving in a copy of the gas safety certificate must be provided within 28 days of them taking occupancy. Failure to comply is a criminal offence.

The check will include inspection and testing of gas appliances and gas fired central heating boilers and flues. If you have a gas appliance the ventilation system will be inspected and any unsatisfactory appliances or ventilation must be rectified.

A good landlord should supply smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms on every floor in addition to the annual gas inspection and ensure that they are checked regularly.

Related articles:

Download our Free First Time Buyers Guide

Recent posts

Selling up? It’s important to make your house as appealing as possible to potential buyers. Good decorating can help with first impressions, and increase the perceived value of your property.

With the cost of living affecting so many of us, we have made a list of budget-friendly activities and ideas for you.

Moving soon? It's never too early to get organised! Be prepared and avoid unwanted stress by checking out our list of tips to get you ready for moving day.

Inflation simply put, is the increase in the price of something over time. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) tracks the prices of hundreds of everyday items and these items are updated to reflect shopping trends.

We are often asked if it's good advice to consolidate “unsecured” debt (credit cards and loans etc) into your mortgage, the answer is, sometimes

When you’re looking to buy a home, and you own a car, you ideally want to know the rules on parking in the area. Parking rules can be confusing, even for the most experienced of drivers! This is why we have written this blog to help you.

There are several potential sources you can consider when it comes to getting together a deposit to buy a property. Providing proof of the source of your deposit is a key requirement in the application process and will need to be given to both the lender and the solicitor.

Mortgage Prisoners are people who are unable to switch mortgages to a better deal, despite being up-to-date with their mortgage payments.