Guidance for Landlords from Landlords
As experts in the rental property industry, we do our best to keep Landlords up to date with the latest information and guidelines.
Gas and electrical checks can be a pain to organise, but they’re necessary and a legal requirement for renting out your property. Pure Property Management is here to take that burden off of you. With our services, we can organise, update and ensure every one of our properties is licensed to show they comply with the law.
But what are the safety responsibilities for landlords?
The primary responsibility for landlords is to provide a property that is safe and free from any health hazards. To ensure this, three main areas must be professionally inspected before tenants move in:
Electrical safety
For electrical safety checks, a new requirement as of June 2020, all systems must be checked thoroughly once every five years. This includes things like sockets, electrical installations and any appliances supplied with the property.
With pure property, we can arrange one of our trusted and professional electricians to check the property when required and supply our landlords and tenants with a full Electrical Safety Report and an Electrical Safety Certification.
Gas safety
To ensure your property can receive a valid Gas Safety Certificate, there are several steps to comply with the current guidelines.
For heating systems and any other gas equipment, they must be installed, maintained and checked regularly by a Gas Safe registered engineer. Appliances and any flue/fireplace need to have an annual gas safety check, and its full report should be given to tenants within 28 days.
Fire safety
To ensure a property follows fire safety regulations, the property must have working smoke alarms on each floor and carbon monoxide alarms in any room with a fuel-burning appliance.
The landlord is also responsible that any supplied furniture is fire-safe and, for HMO properties, that extinguishers are in good condition.
Has Covid-19 affected these checks?
As of July 2020, current Government guidance is that all safety checks must still be carried out, including any remedial work to correct issues found.
If you’re inspecting properties yourself, please follow safety precautions. All of our trusted engineers are currently carrying out checks following every safety guideline set to ensure that tenants can remain safe in their homes while protecting themselves.
If you’re one of our landlords these checks are nothing you need to worry about, we can take care of everything. With our connections with trusted engineers, we will organise fire, gas and electrical safety checks, manage any maintenance needed and provide both you and the tenants with the necessary certificates and paperwork.
If you’re not currently using our property management services, get in touch. We offer personal, high-quality services to landlords across Scotland, whether you’re in Fife, Glasgow, Edinburgh or further afield, you’ll be in good hands with us.