Housing Health and Safety Rating System
It was introduced as part of the Housing Act 2004, and came into effect in England in April 2006. It affects all owners and landlords, including social landlords.
We have powers to ensure owners and landlords keep their properties to an acceptable standard.
How the risk assessment works
The HHSRS focuses on hazards that are most likely to be present in housing.
When inspecting a property, we check for the possibility of these hazards occurring.
There are 29 categories of hazard we check for.
The categories cover:
- dampness and excess cold or heat
- pollutants like asbestos or carbon monoxide
- a lack of space, security or lighting, or excessive noise
- hygiene, sanitation and water supply
- the risk of accidents
- the risk of collisions, explosions and structural collapse
You can find the full details of the hazards on gov.uk.
Finding hazards
Any hazards are found will be identified as either category 1 or category 2.
If a hazard is a serious and immediate risk to a person's health and safety, this is known as a category 1 hazard. If a hazard is less serious or less urgent, this is known as a category 2 hazard.
If we find category 1 hazards, we have a duty to take the most appropriate action.
If category 2 hazards are found, we have the power to take appropriate action.
We will try to deal with problems informally at first. If this does not work, we can make the landlord carry out improvement works to the property.
We do have the power in some circumstances to prohibit the use of the whole building, or individual rooms or parts if necessary. We can also restrict the number of people allowed to occupy the building.
Guidance for landlords and property related professionals
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities have produced a guidance document for landlords and property related professionals.
Tenants
If you are a tenant and your landlord does not carry out repairs when you have asked, please contact us on 01903 737755 and we may be able to help you.
See our damp and disrepair issues pages for more information.