How to report on the safety of goods in rented accommodation

Your landlord IS responsible for the safety of your accommodation and must comply with the law to protect you and your housemates. This is a friendly reminder for any students currently living in privately rented accommodation (or any who will be soon) to keep your landlord in check. Is any furniture or electrical equipment supplied by the accommodation broken or dangerous? Then you need to report it!

If they don't fix it, or they take ages to fix it, then you will need to report it to the Citizens Advice Consumer Service. Either by telephone 0808 223 1133, or on their website.

For more details and specifics on what counts as "goods" in rented accommodation, you can read the information below...

Safety of goods in rented accommodation

Although the United Kingdom left the European Union (EU) in 2021, certain pieces of legislation continue to apply until such time as they are replaced by new UK legislation, revoked or expire. This means that guidance still contains references to legislation that originated from the EU.

Who does the law apply to?

Anyone who lets residential furnished accommodation (eg: houses, flats, bedsits, caravans and boats) as a business activity. This includes letting agents, estate agents and private landlords.

What does the law require?

In general terms, the law requires that goods are safe when they are supplied. This includes any goods supplied as part of a tenancy agreement or in let accommodation. Special safety rules apply to certain types of goods, and some of the main ones are detailed below.

The supply of goods can occur when a tenancy agreement is made, when a tenant moves in, or when goods are newly supplied or installed.

Do landlords have to carry out specific safety checks?

The landlord is responsible for the safety of goods they supply and it is therefore advisable they carry out appropriate checks on all the goods in the property and keep copies of all paperwork and certificates issued.

It is a legal requirement to have carbon monoxide detectors in all rooms with solid fuel appliances. Landlords are also encouraged to install carbon monoxide detectors in rooms with gas installations.

Landlords are required to have yearly checks carried out on gas installations, appliances and flues by a Gas Safe-registered engineer. A record of the gas check must be supplied to tenants.

Landlords must ensure every electrical installation in residential premises is inspected and tested at least every five years by a qualified person. A copy of the electrical check must be supplied to tenants.

Specific checks are not normally required by law for other products - such as furniture and glazing - but landlords still have to ensure they are safe.

Furniture

Upholstered furniture included in lettings must comply with the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988. This applies to both new and second-hand furniture.

The Regulations apply to the following:

• all types of upholstered seating (eg: chairs, sofas/sofabeds, stools etc), mattresses, padded bed bases, and padded headboards

• children's furniture, cots, carrycots, playpens, prams, pushchairs, high chairs

• garden furniture suitable for indoor use

• scatter cushions, pillows

The safety provisions require that:

• the upholstery must pass a specified cigarette test for flammability (not required for mattresses, bed bases, pillows and cushions)

• the filling must pass a specified ignitability test. There are some exemptions (such as filling materials for cushions and pillows) where the cover passes certain ignitability tests

• furniture with permanent covers (excluding mattresses and bed bases) must pass specified match tests. In the case of certain natural fibre covers, if there is an interliner between the furniture and the cover, and the interliner passes specified ignition resistance tests, the cover itself need not pass the match test

Furniture made before 1 January 1950 that has not been modified is excluded from the controls. Bedding, carpets and curtains are also excluded.

How to tell whether furniture complies

Most furniture should have a permanent label headed 'CARELESSNESS CAUSES FIRE' that provides the following information:

• a batch number or identification number

• an indication as to whether the article of furniture includes an interliner

• a summary of the measures that have been taken to ensure compliance

Permanent labels are usually sewn or stapled to the furniture and they can often be found either under the main seat cushion or on the base of the furniture.

Mattresses and bed bases are not required to bear this type of label. However, compliance with the ignitability tests may be shown by a label stating compliance with British Standard BS 7177: Specification for resistance to ignition of mattresses, mattress pads, divans and bed bases. This label has a blue border with white lettering and black cigarette and flame symbols.

Items not bearing any labelling may not conform to the Regulations.

Electrical equipment

Any new electrical equipment that is being fitted and supplied in accommodation should comply with the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 2016 and be UKCA/CE marked.

If equipment is wired directly into the electrical installation of a property, this should be carried out by a suitably qualified engineer.

If equipment is still in the property when it is let to a subsequent tenant, it is deemed to be second-hand and the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 will apply instead. These Regulations require that all electrical equipment supplied with the accommodation must be safe. If it complies with an acceptable standard, such as a British / European standard, it will normally meet safety requirements.

These safety requirements cover:

• labelling, construction, design and manufacture

• insulation and earthing

• protection from electric shock

• adequate guards for radiant heaters or moving parts

• the need to provide instructions for safe use

Generally:

• access to live, hot or moving parts must not be possible without the use of a tool

• cable should be of the double-insulated type, with no basic insulation exposed

• wiring should not be damaged in any way

• cord grips on appliances must be effective

• all guards must be in place and effective

Plugs and sockets

All electrical appliances provided have to be correctly fitted with an approved plug with sleeved pins. Approved plugs are those that comply with BS 1363: 13 A plugs, socket-outlets, adaptors and connection units. All plugs should carry the name and reference number of the approved body, normally BSI (British Standards Institution) or ASTA (ASTA Diamond Mark, run by Intertek). The plug does not have to be moulded on but it must have a cord grip to secure the lead going into the plug and have the correct fuse for the appliance.

All sockets (for example, on mains extension leads) adaptors and similar devices must meet British or European standards.

Electric fireguards

The distance between the bars and the strength of the guard are laid down in British standards.

A fireguard is satisfactory if any vertical bars are 5 mm or less apart. Otherwise, the guard must not have an opening with either:

• a major dimension exceeding 126 mm and a minor dimension exceeding 12 mm; or

• a major dimension exceeding 53 mm and a minor dimension exceeding 20 mm

How to tell whether electrical equipment complies

Landlords must take all reasonable precautions to ensure that electrical equipment is safe and correctly labelled and supplied with adequate instructions for safe use.

Gas appliances

Any new gas appliances being fitted into accommodation should comply with assimilated Regulation (EU) 2016/426 on appliances burning gaseous fuels and be UKCA/CE marked.

They should be installed by a suitably qualified gas engineer.

If equipment is still in the property when it is let to a subsequent tenant, it is deemed to be second-hand and the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 will apply instead.

One way to ensure that gas appliances are safe is to check that they comply with relevant British / European standards. For example, the applicable standard for gas cookers is BS EN 30: Domestic cooking appliances burning gas. Cookers must:

• have legible and durable markings on the controls and be marked with the manufacturer's or importer's name

• have adequate pan supports

• have tap handles that are easy to operate, but not liable to be turned on accidentally

• ignite promptly

• have oven doors that seal in hot gases

• have instructions for safe use

They must not have:

• sharp edges

• a casing that gets hot enough to cause injury

Any hob cover must shut off the gas supply, or the cover must have a warning label stating that it does not.

Gas and oil heater fireguards

The General Product Safety Regulations 2005 require all fireguards on gas fires and oil heaters to be safe. One method of ensuring this is by compliance to British Standards or the European equivalent.

Oil heaters and used gas fires that do not satisfy specific design criteria involving the hearth and installation instructions must be fitted with a guard that either:

• does not permit a 35 mm diameter probe to touch the heated radiants or the flame; or

• has no gap larger than 150 mm x 35 mm, and no gap with a diameter larger than 154 mm

The guard must pass certain strength tests.

If it is not possible to pass a 12 mm diameter probe through the gap, or the gap is between vertical rods no greater than 5 mm apart, the requirement to fit heaters and fires with a guard does not apply.

Gas catalytic heaters

Gas catalytic heaters must not contain unbonded asbestos.

Paraffin heaters

The Oil Heaters (Safety) Regulations 1977 apply to paraffin heaters. Controls cover stability, flame extinction and labelling.

Glazing

The Construction Products Regulations 2013 cover glazing. If landlords are buying replacement glazing, safety glass must be used in critical locations, as follows:

• any glazing that is less than 800 mm from the floor

• any glazing in a door that is less than 1500 mm from the floor, or within 300mm either side of a door

Small glass panes (with a smaller dimension up to 250 mm, and a total area up to 0.5 m2) do not need to be made of safety glass if they are thick enough (6 mm in most cases). However, if landlords are buying a replacement door, for example, with small panes, it is better to choose safety glass if it is available.

Other appliances and equipment

All equipment and items not covered by specific regulations must comply with the General Product Safety Regulations 2005. Landlords must ensure that all items they supply with the accommodation are safe. This will include supplying warnings and instructions with the items, where they are necessary, for the safe use of the items.

For example:

• lawn mowers, strimmers, etc must be provided with the necessary guards in place

• chairs and stepladders must be strong enough to support a person's weight

• glass in furniture should satisfy British Standards, where applicable

• ironing boards, clothes dryers, etc should not have sharp edges that could cause injury

• blinds must have a cord that does not pose a strangulation hazard

Landlords are advised to check all items at regular intervals to ensure that they are safe.

Dangerous products

It is best practice for landlords to check that goods provided with a rental property have not been recalled due to safety issues. Information about product recalls and safety alerts can be found on the GOV.UK website.

How to Complain

Trading Standards has an arrangement with the Citizens Advice Consumer Service who handle consumer complaints. They provide free, impartial advice and information to enable consumers to resolve disputes themselves. Details of complaints are recorded on their national database and forwarded to the Trading Standards Service where the consumer lives, and where the trader is based.

Contact the Citizens Advice Consumer Service by telephone 0808 223 1133 or online at https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/get-more-help/report-to-trading-standards/