Heating services company Shropshire Gas
is managing primary long-term gas service and maintenance
contracts with owners of social housing in the midlands. In
each case we are responsible for the service and maintenance
of the heating equipment within each property owned by the
landlord.
The landlord’s responsibilities with regards to gas
are set out in The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations
1994. In short, this legislation makes it the duty of the
landlord to ensure that all gas appliances provided within
accommodation and all installation pipe work within the premises
are maintained in a safe condition to prevent risk of injury
to any person.
Landlords have a duty imposed upon them by this legislation
to have all gas appliance installations and pipe work inspected
and checked for safety at least every 12 months by an approved
engineer. Records detailing these inspections must be made
available to tenants at all times for examination.
In 2002 there were 25.6 million homes in the UK with more
than 5 million described as social housing – of these
just fewer than 3.5 million were owned by local authorities
and a further 1.7 million owned by Registered Social Landlords
(RSL). There are more than 2000 RSLs in England alone, most
of which are private not-for-profit companies.
Social housing landlords are seeking to improve services to
their tenants. To do so they are looking for best value for
money in all areas of their work. Best value means delivering
high quality, cost efficient services that are responsive
to the needs and aspirations of local communities - the service
users. Forward-thinking registered social landlords are making
continuous improvements to all of their services.
The Audit Commission undertakes a comprehensive performance
assessment (CPA) on relevant registered social landlords.
Their assessment brings together evidence from a range of
sources to assess the quality of core services, how it uses
its resources and its capacity to improve. These assessments
are combined into an overall result placing each council in
one of four scores:
CPA is linked with other proposals to provide additional freedoms
for well-performing registered social landlords and support
for those that need help to improve.
Gas safety
Landlords are responsible in law for their tenant’s
safety. Annual gas safety checks are a legal requirement.
Failure can result in heavy fines or imprisonment. Click here for gas safety advice for landlords. Contact us today
To find out more about the services we offer to social housing providers contact us on 01630 656161 or email service@shropshiregas.com
