The Regulations
Gas Safety (installation and use) Regulations 1998 Gas Safe Register
These regulations first came into effect 31st October 1994 to ensure that gas appliances are properly installed and maintained in a safe condition so as to avoid the risks of carbon monoxide poisoning. It is the responsibility of landlords to ensure that ALL gas appliances and gas installation pipe work owned by them are checked for safety at lease once a year by a gas safety registered engineer which was updated on the 01st April 2009 from the Corgi register. In addition accurate records of the safety inspections and any work carried out must kept. The current Gas Safe safety certificate must always be available for any tenant prior to them taking occupation of a property.
Electrical Equipment (Safety) regulations 1994
The above regulations impose an obligation on a landlord to ensure that all electrical appliances left as part of a let property are safe. Cabling, fuses and plugs should also be inspected and replaced where necessary to the correct rating for that particular appliance, other legislation covering electrical installations is currently in force and we strongly recommend that all appliances are regularly checked and serviced.
Smoke Alarms - Building Regulations 1991
The 1991 Building Regulations require that all properties built since June 1992 must be fitted with mains operated interlinked smoke detectors/alarms on each floor. Such regulations regarding older properties do not exist but we strongly recommend that smoke alarms are fitted in all let properties and are regularly checked to ensure they are in full working order.
Deposits
With the changes to the Housing Act 1996 in 2004 from 6 April 2007, all landlords and letting agents taking deposits for assured shorthold tenancies (ASTs) in England and Wales must safeguard them with a Government-authorised tenant deposit protection scheme, either custodial or insurance based. Reed Residential are NAEA qualified and lodge all of the deposits paid to The Dispute Service (TDS) the insurance based scheme for regulated Estate Agents, further information on the deposit schemes can be found on our website www.reedresidential.co.uk, this only applied to properties that are managed by Reed Residential, landlords that choose to manage their own property are required to provide details of their chosen deposit scheme.
Energy Performance Certificate
From the 01st October 2008 Landlords are required to provide and Energy Performance Certificate when they rent out a property, EPCs assess the energy performance of a property and represent the energy efficiency on a scale from A most efficient to G least efficient. A valid EPC will last for 10 years, unless changes are made to the property which may affect its energy efficiency, and can be used for multiple tenancies within that period. Reed Residential is working in partnership with several EPC assessors that can produce a report swiftly avoiding any marketing delays.