Housing, Health and Safety Rating System.

The Housing Act 2004 introduced a new way for Local Authorities to assess housing conditions in England and Wales. The legislation replaces the old housing fitness standard and came into force on 6^th April 2006.

The new risk assessment approach called the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) will enable Council Officer to identify hazards to health and safety in dwellings and to recommend works to remove or minimise those hazards.

The HHSRS will be used to assess conditions in all private properties including those that are owner occupied, rented to single people and families and houses in multiple occupation. (HMO’s)

Properties will be assessed against 29 potential hazards, which addresses deficiencies associated with excess cold, falls on stairs, noise and damp and mould growth. The new assessment method aims to make homes healthier and safer and tackles hazards the fitness standard could not deal with, or deals with inadequately.

When a hazard is identified in a property, two tests have to be applied:

What is the likelihood of a dangerous occurrence as a result of the hazard?
If there is a dangerous occurrence, what would be the likely outcome?

The likelihood and the severity of the outcome combine to generate a hazard score. Hazards scores are divided into 10 bands, with band A being the most serious and band J the least serious. Hazards which fall into bands A – C are called Category 1 hazards and those in band D – J are category 2 hazards.

How is it enforced and what are the penalties?

If the Local Authority discover a Category 1 hazard in a property, it has to take the most appropriate course of action. The Council also has a discretionary power to deal with Category 2 hazards by means of enforcement action.

Local Authorities are advised to try and deal with issues informally at first, however if unsuccessful the Council may be left with no alternative but to pursue enforcement action, which will involve the Council serving legal notices on the owner and /or manager of the property, and require them to carry out certain works in a specific time scale.

A property owner who feels an assessment is wrong can discuss the matter with the inspector and ultimately will be able to challenge an enforcement decision at the Residential Property Tribunal

It is an offence not to comply with a statutory notice, which could lead to a fine of up to £5000.

For Further information

If you require more information/guidance as to whether your property needs improvements to comply with HHSRS requirements, please contact Housing Services on 01228 817320.

Further information can also be obtained from: