New HHSRS Rules: Is Your Rental Property Inspection Good Enough?

The HHSRS rules have changed. Would your current property inspection identify the risks that matter? The Government has updated the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS), including reducing the number of hazards from 29 to 21 and introducing new baseline indicators. But does that mean landlords and letting agents now need specialist HHSRS training? No. Landlords and property agents are not expected to become trained HHSRS assessors or calculate official HHSRS scores. What they do need to be able to do is recognise potential hazards, understand when something could cause harm, take appropriate action and keep clear evidence of what happened. In this video, Maxine Lester explains: • What has changed under the new HHSRS guidance • Why the number of hazards has reduced from 29 to 21 • What High, Medium and Low Risk mean • Why landlords shouldn't attempt to give hazards an official HHSRS score • How vulnerable occupants and visitors are considered • What landlords and letting agents should record during property inspections • Why simply writing “contractor instructed” isn't enough • How Safety Compliance Visits can help identify and follow through potential concerns Potentially serious concerns could include exposed electrical components, defective boiler flues, unsafe stairs, inadequate heating, severe damp and mould, dangerous high-level windows, structural instability or serious fire-safety defects. However, these conditions are not automatically Category 1 hazards in every property. A formal assessment is the responsibility of an appropriately trained council officer. For landlords, the practical responsibility is much simpler: Recognise the risk. Act on it. Keep the evidence. A good property inspection should do more than provide a collection of photographs. It should record what was found, what action was recommended, who was responsible, when the work was due and whether it was completed. At Maxine Lester Lettings & Property Management, our Safety Compliance Visits already consider areas including heating, damp and mould, ventilation, drainage, handrails, window safety, alarms, unsafe surfaces and structural concerns. We are now aligning that process with the revised list of 21 HHSRS hazards and the Government's new baseline indicators. If you're a landlord in St Ives, Huntingdon, Cambridge or the surrounding Cambridgeshire villages and want to know whether your property management processes are keeping pace with changing compliance requirements, speak to the Maxine Lester team. 📞 01480 494939 Subscribe to Maxine Lester TV for clear, practical updates on landlord compliance, property management and the Cambridgeshire rental market. #HHSRS #CambridgeshireLandlords #LandlordCompliance #LandlordAdvice #RentalPropertySafety #LettingAgentStIves #LettingAgentHuntingdon #PropertyManagementCambridgeshire #CambridgeLandlords #SafetyComplianceVisit #MaxineLester