Are you thinking about letting your property, but unsure on where to start? Trainee Lettings Administrator, Nyah Rendle has developed a useful guide for landlords explaining what they need to have in order, prior to renting out their property. Depending on the utilities at the property, landlords are responsible for having them serviced/checked before a tenancy commences. These items are vitally important to ensure you are complying with the law around rented property and to ensure safety of your tenant. 

GAS SAFETY 

Landlords are required to have all gas appliances checked and certified annually by a qualified and registered Gas Safe engineer. On completion, the engineer will provide landlords with a gas safety certificate which outlines the findings of the service and is valid for 12 months. Certificates should also be provided to the tenant upon completion. 

ELECTRICS 

Landlords are required to ensure that all electrical equipment is safe to use and satisfies certain requirements. A qualified electrician would need to undertake an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR), this would include a full check of the electrics and these are generally valid for five years. Certificates should only ever be issues by a NICEIC or NAPIT registered electrician. 

Between tenants, it is highly recommended to undertake a visual inspection of the electrics, to ensure the previous tenant has not changed any of the fittings or fixtures of the property. 

PAT testing is also recommended for any portable appliances (provided by the landlord) which are not hard wired in, PAT testing is generally undertaken annually. 

OIL 

Landlords are required to have any oil fired properties serviced by a qualified and registered engineer. A report would be provided on completion and would be valid for one year from issue. 

CHIMNEY 

Any rental properties with a chimney have to be swept annually. This should be completed by a HETAS certified chimney sweep. 

LEGIONNAIRES DISEASE 

Landlords are required to undertake a single assessment on the water systems at the property to ensure the risk of exposure of legionaries to tenants is controlled. These usually have to be completed bi-annually, but depends on the water systems are the property. 

What is legionnaires?

Legionnaires is a severe form of pneumonia – lung inflammation usually caused by an infection. It is caused by a bacterium known as legionella and can be caught by inhaling bacteria from water or soil. 

Top tip 

Legionnaires testing is not required, just a risk assessment- this can save on quite a bit of cost in the long run. 

PRIVATE WATER SOURCES 

Landlords whose properties have private water sources need to be tested annually, with a risk assessment completed once every 5 years. This now has to be completed by Cornwall Council for any properties situated within Cornwall. 

SMOKE ALARMS 

Landlords must have dated smoke alarms fitted in the property and ensure these are regularly checked. There should be a minimum of one smoke alarm on each floor and these are recommended to be hard wired in. Mains wired smoke alarms are not yet mandatory, however this may be on the horizon! 

CARBON MONOXIDE ALARMS 

Landlords must have CO alarms fitted to any property that poses a risk of any appliances producing carbon monoxide gas (oil and solid boilers, cookers and open fires). There should be one CO alarm in every room containing a solid fuel appliance. 

AN ENERGY PERFOMANCE CERTIFICATE

This must meet the Minimum Energy Efficiency Rating of an ‘E’ Rating for a property to legally be let out. EPCs are a rating scheme to summarise the energy efficiency of properties, they outline the energy efficiency of the property and also include how this can be improved. 

New legislation is on the horizon to bring energy efficiency ratings up to a ‘C’ rating. The new regulations are proposed to be introduced for new tenancies first, followed by all tenancies from 2028. You can check your energy efficiency rating on the governments online portal to see how this legislation may affect you. 

Kivells have a large portfolio of registered contractors that can assist with all of the above and we have many active applicants on our database looking for their dream home. 

Please contact our experienced lettings team is we can be of assistance.