Checklist: Housing Safety and Compliance for Residential Landlords and Letting Agents
This Checklist: Housing Safety and Compliance for Residential Landlords and Letting Agents is designed to assist landlords, letting agents and property managers in identifying common health and safety hazards within residential properties and maintaining evidence of ongoing property compliance.
Why Download This Template
The Renters’ Rights Act introduces significant reforms to the private rented sector, including measures designed to improve housing standards and strengthen tenant protections. The government has set a 2035 policy target for the new Decent Homes Standard in England’s private rented sector; Awaab’s Law has a separate timetable, to be confirmed. Existing repair, fitness and housing-hazard duties apply now, so landlords should investigate damp and mould promptly, carry out required repairs and keep records.
As part of these reforms, changes the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 introduce changes to the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) with effect from 23 June 2026.
Failure to address serious hazards may result in enforcement action by the local authority, including improvement notices, prohibition orders. Since 22 June 2026, a local housing authority in England may impose a penalty of up to £7,000 where it is required to take appropriate enforcement action for a Category 1 hazard on qualifying residential premises, excluding common parts of a building containing flats, if it considers that removing the hazard would have been reasonably practicable for the responsible person. The statutory notice and appeal procedure applies; a prior refusal to carry out repairs is not a prerequisite. Landlords need to therefore ensure their properties do not contain any of the hazards contained in the HHSRS.
What This Template Does
This template provides a checklist to assist residential landlords, letting agents, and property managers to assist in identifying potential health and safety hazards commonly assessed under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS), together with key statutory safety requirements relating to gas safety, electrical safety, smoke alarms, carbon monoxide alarms, and energy efficiency.
Landlords should retain completed copies together with supporting evidence, photographs, certificates, and records of remedial works undertaken. Landlords should also download the Guidance Notes: HHSRS for Residential Landlords.
Important:
This document is provided as a template only and should be reviewed and amended to reflect the specific characteristics of the property being inspected. Additional checks may be required depending on the nature of the property, the type of occupation and any particular risks identified during the inspection.
Completion of this checklist does not guarantee compliance with legal obligations and should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional advice, statutory inspections or specialist reports where required.
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