We will investigate health and safety concerns about private rented housing in line with the Housing Health & Safety Rating System (HHSRS) - make a private rented housing complaint.
The HHSRS is a risk-based system that helps us to identify potential hazards and assess their severity.
The assessment method focuses on identifying hazards and tackling these hazards to make housing healthier and safer to live in.
The checks are carried out by an environmental health officer and we will take action if serious problems are found. This could include:
- informal negotiation with the landlord to improve the property
- formal enforcement action against the landlord including serving a hazard awarness notice, an improvement notice, carrying out work ourselves and then charging the landlord, or issuing a prohibition order to prevent people living in all or part of a building, or restrict the number of people living in overcrowded properties.
The key principle of the system is that a dwelling, including the structure and associated outbuildings and garden, yard and/or other amenity space and means of access, should provide a safe and healthy environment for the occupants and, by implication, for any visitors and as a landlord it is your responsibity to ensure it does.