Landlords Unaware of Need for Gas Safety Certificate – Landlords Risking Prison Sentence
Research on behalf of Saga shows that a quarter of landlords aged 50 and above do not meet the legal requirement of supplying a gas safety certificate on their rental properties. Failure to have a valid gas safety certificate can result in prosecution, potentially leading to a £6,000 fine or a prison sentence of around six months.
What is a landlord’s gas safety certificate?
A gas safety certificate is a safety check of all gas appliances on a property. A certificate must be provided before renting a property by law. In addition, the property must be checked every 12 months by a Gas Safe registered engineer.
Why wouldn’t a landlord supply a certificate?
It is more than likely that they are not aware that they need one. Increasingly people are entering the buy-to-let market due to low-interest rates and as an addition to pensions. Legislation surrounding the lettings industry is vast, and there are many legal responsibilities landlords need to be aware of. This is the reason that many landlords use an agent who is experienced in property legislation.
What Matthew James Letting Agents say
I worry that any landlord knowingly rents a property without a gas safety certificate. However, it does happen, and we come across landlords who have not supplied one. Any landlord who knowingly doesn’t give a safety certificate to save costs or even those who manage properties themselves and are not aware of primary legislation, in my opinion, these people should not be landlords.
As Agents, we ensure all our managed properties have gas safety certificates and monitor their renewals. The average cost for a certificate is £70 – £90. We In addition, wee a local contractor James Madden to conduct gas safety certificates for our landlords.
