The Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) is a UK risk assessment for homes. Local authorities use it to evaluate health and safety hazards in residential properties. Landlords must follow it for legal compliance and to manage risks that can affect their insurance policies, including cover for legal expenses and potential liability claims.
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The HHSRS: What it is and What it Covers
The HHSRS isn’t pass-or-fail. It’s a complex, risk-based system that assesses 29 prescribed hazards that could harm a tenant’s health and safety.
• Risk-Based Assessment: Local authority inspectors assess hazards based on the likelihood of an incident occurring and the severity of the potential harm.
• The 29 Hazards: These are grouped into four main categories:
• Physiological: Such as excess cold/heat and damp and mould growth.
• Psychological: Including crowding and space and lighting.
• Protection against Infection: Such as pests, sanitation, and water supply.
• Protection against Accidents: Including falls on stairs/level surfaces, fire, and structural collapse.
• Categories of Hazard: The assessment results in a score that determines whether a hazard is a Category 1 (serious risk) or Category 2 (less serious risk). Local authorities must take action for Category 1 hazards and may take action for Category 2 hazards.
Landlords must ensure properties are safe and well-maintained. They must eliminate or reduce hazards affecting the structure, utilities, and permanent fixtures within the home. Awaab’s Law, for example, now requires social landlords to promptly fix serious damp and mould.
🛡️ HHSRS Compliance and Landlord Insurance Requirements
The Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) is a statutory scheme. Following its standards is essential for a landlord’s insurance policy and reducing liability. While insurers may not ask for an HHSRS certificate, compliance is crucial to keep your policy valid and avoid disputes that could result in significant legal expenses.
Buildings and Contents Insurance
• Policy Conditions: Landlord buildings insurance is mandatory if you have a buy-to-let mortgage and covers the structure against risks like fire, flood, and subsidence. Insurers often require the property to be kept in a good state of repair, including maintaining permanent fixtures, and safe for occupation. The correct rebuild cost must be declared to ensure the property can be fully reinstated after a major loss.
• Voids and Claims: Failure to address HHSRS hazards (like electrical faults, disrepair, or severe damp) could lead to an incident and a resulting claim. An insurer might refuse the claim if the damage or loss resulted from landlord negligence, gradual wear and tear, or a breach of a policy condition.
If tenants need to move out following insured damage, cover for alternative accommodation can provide temporary housing while repairs are completed. You can learn more about landlord buildings cover here:
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Public Liability Insurance
• Tenant Injury Claims: Public Liability insurance protects the landlord against claims of injury or property damage made by tenants or visitors that occur due to a defect in the property. This type of cover is often referred to as property owners liability insurance.
Read more about liability protection here:
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• Negligence and HHSRS: A landlord is likely negligent if a tenant is injured by a known hazard they failed to fix. For example, a fall caused by an unlit, defective stairwell would typically fall under property owners liability protection.
• Policy Validity: Landlords who consistently ignore their legal duties under the HHSRS are at a much higher risk of claims. If customers paid to stay in a rental property suffer injury due to unsafe conditions, the resulting claim could involve compensation and substantial legal expenses. Repeated claims can lead to increased premiums or difficulty obtaining property owners liability cover.
3. Specific Safety Requirements
Insurers expect landlords to comply with other statutory safety requirements, many of which overlap with HHSRS hazards:
• Gas Safety: An annual Gas Safety Certificate (CP12) is legally required.
• Electrical Safety: An Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) every five years is mandatory.
• Smoke and CO Alarms: Working alarms are legally required and address fire and CO hazards.
HHSRS doesn’t require insurance, but it legally defines a safe home. Compliance is essential: it mitigates risks that could void your policy, increase legal expenses, or lead to costly claims.
Understanding Your Insurance Cover
Do you know whether your building insurance cover has the right protection for you?
Does your policy include accidental damage cover, malicious damage, rent guarantee, loss of rent, employers liability, and property owners liability, and does it ensure you can completely rebuild your property at the correct rebuild cost?
Did you know that some policies are underinsured and do not cover the full rebuild cost of rebuilding your property? There are very different levels of cover, and it is important your rental property has the right protection in place.
If you employ contractors, cleaners or maintenance staff, you may also require employers liability cover. Learn more here:
👉 https://www.iinsure365.co.uk/employers-liability-insurance
Landlords must take into account damp and mould responsibilities. Insurance does not cover gradual wear and tear, so proactive maintenance of permanent fixtures is essential.
Building Insurance Cover
It is important that your building insurance covers accidental damage, fixtures and fittings including permanent fixtures, liability, loss of rent, malicious damage, rent guarantee, and provides cover for alternative accommodation where required.
Some policies exclude damage caused by wear and tear, and not all automatically include legal expenses or sufficient rebuild cost protection.
To compare levels of cover and ensure you have the right protection, visit:
👉 https://www.iinsure365.co.uk/landlord-insurance
Rent Guarantee and Additional Protection
We have a new product which covers you for rent guarantee.
In addition to rent protection, policies can include cover for alternative accommodation, support with legal expenses, and liability protection where customers paid for occupation of the property.
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We offer building insurance for your rental properties. It covers a wide range of risks. This includes employers liability. It also protects you where customers paid for stays. The policy covers the full rebuild cost after a major claim.
Call us on 01273 827090 or enquiries@iinsure365.co.uk or visit
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Additional Context for Landlords
The Private rented sector continues to evolve alongside policy changes affecting Energy efficiency, Income tax, and Minimum wage considerations for landlords. Within the Private rented sector, National residential landlords must consider the Renters rights act and the wider Tax system when Raising rents.
The Renters rights act also impacts Energy efficiency standards and Income tax reporting for National residential landlords in the Private rented sector. Concerns about Raising rents and Minimum wage pressures continue across the Private rented sector, especially under the Renters rights act and the Tax system.
National residential landlords must balance Energy efficiency upgrades with Income tax obligations while complying with the Renters rights act and avoiding unjustified Raising rents within the Tax system framework and Minimum wage realities. The Renters rights act continues to evolve.