Housing Health and Safety Rating System
The Law and Landlords' Obligations
The Housing Act 2004 places a statutory duty on local authorities to identify hazards and assess risks to tenants' health and safety. Local authorities are required to use the Housing, Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) to identify and assess risks. Section 3(1) of the Act states:
'A local housing authority must keep the housing conditions in their area under review with a view to identifying any action that may need to be taken by them under any of the provisions mentioned in sub-section (2).'
The underlying principle of the HHSRS is that any residential premises should provide a reasonably safe and healthy environment for any potential occupier or visitor. Some hazards, however, are necessary or unavoidable, and others are considered desirable or expected because the perceived benefits outweigh the risks. For example, electricity is hazardous but considered necessary; stairs (however well designed) are dangerous but necessary in any multi-storey dwelling. For such hazards, the design, construction and maintenance should be such as to reduce to a minimum the probability of an occurrence that could result in harm and the potential harm that could result.
Depending on the seriousness of the risk, local authorities assess hazards as either category one or category two hazards. Where a category one hazard is found, the local authority must take some action (see later). Where a category two hazard is found, the local authority may take some action.
How local authorities discharge their duty under section 3(1) varies. In some cases, local authorities are proactive in assessing the private rented sector stock in their areas. Still, others can now only offer a reactive service, responding to requests for assistance from both occupiers and landlords.
When a local authority decides to inspect after a complaint, the assessor will not just look at the particular hazard complained of but will look for all potential hazards under the HHSRS both internally and externally.
Although not a general legal obligation, it is helpful for landlords to identify and risk-assess health and safety hazards at their properties and take remedial action where necessary. Most local authorities are keen to work with landlords and agents to make sure landlords are aware of the local authority's responsibilities, powers and duties under the Act. A prudent landlord or agent will be proactive in seeking to ensure that their properties are of a standard that does not attract the interest of the local housing authority.
The HHSRS lists 29 hazards that landlords need to be aware of.
Hazards
Physiological:
damp and mould growth
excess cold
excess heat
asbestos and manufactured mineral fibre
biocides (e.g. damp and timber treatment products)
carbon monoxide and fuel combustion products
lead
radiation
uncombusted fuel gas
volatile organic compounds.
Psychological:
crowding and space
entry by intruders
lighting
noise
Infection:
domestic hygiene, pests and refuse
food safety
personal hygiene, sanitation and drainage
water supply for domestic purposes
Accidents:
falls associated with baths
falling on level surfaces
falling associated with stairs and steps
falling between levels
electrical hazards
fire
flames and hot surfaces
collision and entrapment
explosions
position and operability of amenities
structural collapse and failing elements
Risk Assessment
The HHSRS is a technical system best used by persons with technical health and safety or building construction background.
There are some guides to the HHSRS, including the statutory guidance available within the HHSRS section of the GOV.UK website: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/housing-health-and-safety-rating-system-hhsrs-guidance
Housing Health
It is very challenging for landlords to acquire the skills necessary to use the HHSRS to accurately risk-assess hazards as category 1 or 2.
To help landlords to identify potential category one hazards and prioritise them for action, a simple guide to risk-assessing hazards is provided below:
The risk from a hazard is a combination of:
the likelihood of a hazard, over 12 months, causing harm sufficient to require some medical attention and
the potential seriousness of harm from that hazard, should harm occur.
A risk assessment of a hazard that indicates a high likelihood of harm, and high potential seriousness of that harm, means that the hazard may potentially be high risk and therefore in need of remedial action to reduce the risk to a more acceptable level.
Step 1 Familiarise yourself with the 29 HHSRS hazards, mainly the most commonly occurring.
Step 2 Ask yourself whether the likelihood of harm occurring over 12 months from an identified hazard is high.
Step 3 Ask yourself whether the potential seriousness of that harm would be high.
If the answers to steps 2 and 3 are YES, then the hazard is high-risk.
example
We are assessing the risk of falling down a stair.
If a stair is long, steep, in disrepair, has a loose, worn covering, has uneven treads and risers, does not have a handrail or adequate artificial lighting along its length, then the likelihood over 12 months of someone falling will be high.
If there is a hard floor surface at the bottom of the stairs, a wall-mounted radiator with sharp corners and a non-safety glazed door, then the seriousness of a fall is likely to be high.
The combination of the high likelihood of an accident and high potential seriousness of harm means that the risk of falling down the stairs is high, liable to be a category one hazard and in need of high priority remedial action.
Vulnerable Groups
Young and elderly persons are more at risk from the following hazards than non-disabled adults: cold, falls, fire, hot surfaces, dampness, food safety and entry by intruders.
Landlords letting properties to elderly persons or families with young children should be particularly mindful of these hazards when carrying out risk assessments. They should provide additional protective means where necessary.
HHSRS Enforcement
Local authorities have statutory duties and powers to take enforcement action to deal with properties containing hazards identified under the HHSRS. Under the HHSRS, local authorities must take appropriate enforcement action concerning category one hazards and have the discretion to act about category two hazards.
If a hazard presents a severe threat to health or safety, it is a category one hazard.
If a local housing authority considers that a category one hazard exists on any residential premises, they must take the appropriate enforcement action about the hazard.
Less severe threats to health and safety are known as category two hazards, and a local authority may take appropriate enforcement action to reduce the danger to an acceptable level. The circumstances in which local authorities will take action over category two hazards will vary and will depend on the individual local authority's enforcement policy.
Although statutory action is mandatory for category one hazards and discretionary for category two hazards, choosing what course of action is appropriate is also a matter for the local authority. It will depend on the individual local authority's enforcement policy.
The authority must, however, take into account the statutory enforcement guidance, and the options available include:
serving an improvement notice requiring remedial works
making a prohibition order, which closes the whole or part of a dwelling or restricts the number of permitted occupants
suspending the above types of notice for some time
taking emergency action itself
serving a hazard awareness notice, which merely advises that a hazard exists but does not demand works are carried out
demolition
designating a clearance area.
A failure to comply with a notice or order is a criminal offence and is liable to an unlimited fine.
Appeal Against Notice or Order
If a local authority takes some enforcement action, for example, an improvement notice requiring a landlord to complete particular works, the recipient of the notice has a right of appeal. There is one exception, and no appeal is available against a hazard awareness notice. Such a notice cannot require any of the suggested works to be done; it only makes a person aware of possible hazards.
An appeal must be made to the Residential Property Tribunal Wales.
Specific time limits apply for an appeal depending on the enforcement action taken, but commonly, you must appeal within 21 or 28 days, depending on the circumstances.