Energy efficiency standards

The responsibility of a landlord is to ensure that they met the underlying principle of the Housing Act 2004 in that, any residential premises should provide a safe and healthy environment for any potential occupier or visitor.

To meet the above principle we have a legal duty and powers to tackle poor housing conditions. When we inspect a dwelling, we will look for any risk of harm to an actual or potential occupier of a dwelling, which results from any deficiency that can give rise to a hazard. We will judge the severity of the risk by considering the likelihood of an occurrence that could cause harm over the next 12 months, and the range of harms that could result. We will make these judgements by reference to those who, mostly based on age, would be most vulnerable to the hazard, even if people in these age groups may not actually be living at the property at the time.

We will use a formal scoring system called the Housing, Health and Safety Rating Scheme to demonstrate the seriousness of hazards that can cause harm in dwellings.

If there are risks to the health or safety of occupants that we think should be dealt with, owners and landlords will have to put matters right. 

For category 1 hazards we will be under a duty to take enforcement action.

Category 2 hazards will be ones that the we judge are not as serious. For these less severe hazards we will still be able to take action if we think it is necessary.