Letting your property

As a landlord you have responsibilities, including:

• Keeping your rented properties safe and healthy for people to live in
• Making sure all gas and electrical equipment you supply is safely installed and maintained
• Following fire safety regulations
• Providing an Energy Performance Certificate for the property
• Protecting your tenant’s deposit in a government-approved scheme 

We use the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) to make sure that homes are safe for people to live in. This involves inspecting your property for possible hazards - for example, dangerous or uneven stairs and steps.

If you own a property and rent it out, we may decide to do an HHSRS inspection because:

• Your tenants have asked for an inspection
• We have done a survey of local properties and think your property might be hazardous

We will look at 29 health and safety areas and score each hazard. Officers will take action to address significant defects and hazards and may take action to address lesser risk hazards.

In future, you won’t be able to seek possession of your properties to undertake repairs if we have already taken action against you to address these problems on your behalf. Should this be the case, we will seek to work with you to maintain tenancies for the people living at your property.