UK landlords urged to ensure proper upkeep of gas and heating equipment

Posted under General by Alan

Authorities in the UK are urging all landlords to ensure that heating systems and gas appliances in their rental properties be maintained in proper working condition to avoid loss of lives from gas leakages and fires.

As numbers of people die needlessly each year in Britain, it has become major safety issue for the authorities. Landlords are also hard pressed with the provision that failure to comply with strict gas regulations would be penalised with very hefty fines. In a recent case of failure a landlord was ordered to pay whopping £4,000 for not carrying out improvements in gas appliances of her property. A serious problem with this landlord was that tenants used to sleep in the room where gas appliances were installed. This is a serious violation of safety norms under the UK safety regulations. The landlord had ignored earlier warnings from the authorities and did not comply with their recommendations.

At the time of final inspection, authorities discovered total of 10 defects, three of which were considered to pose serious threat to the safety of tenants.

According to government inspector, Stephen Manley, if landlords would ensure regular inspection and upkeep of gas appliances several precious lives could be saved from fatal accidents.

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