Gas safety in rented homes
If you smell gas or suspect carbon monoxide poisoning:
go outside your home immediately
call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999 once you are outside
See NHS advice on carbon monoxide poisoning.
Landlord responsibilities
Your landlord must make sure that the gas meter, pipework and any gas appliances they provide are:
in a safe condition
fitted or repaired by a Gas Safe registered engineer
checked every year by a Gas Safe registered engineer
Gas appliances include cookers, boilers, fires and water heaters.
These rules apply to councils, housing associations and private landlords, including landlords of lodgers.
Emergencies in council and housing association homes
Your landlord must fix emergency hazards in your home within 24 hours.
This includes gas leaks or a broken boiler that makes your home unsafe.
If they cannot make your home safe in 24 hours, they must offer you somewhere else to stay while they do repairs.
Your responsibilities
You should let a Gas Safe engineer come in for a gas safety check. Ask to see their ID card when they visit.
You are responsible for any gas appliances that you own. Your landlord is usually responsible for any flues, pipework or chimneys they are connected to.
You can ask the engineer to check your own appliances but you may have to pay for this.
Yearly gas safety checks
Your landlord must arrange a gas safety check every 12 months.
The check must be done by a registered Gas Safe engineer.
Your landlord can book the engineer's visit up to 2 months before the check is due. If your landlord does this, it does not change the date that the next check is due.
You cannot be charged for a gas safety check.
What happens during a gas safety check
The engineer must make safe serious problems with any of the gas installations in your home.
They can:
disconnect faulty equipment
arrange for your gas supply to be cut off
If you cannot be there for the check
You should get reasonable notice of when a check is due.
Your landlord or agent should ask you when is convenient.
If you cannot be there you could:
ask someone you trust to be there
allow your landlord or agent to let the engineer in
Ask for a gas safety check if it's overdue
Copy our template into an email to your landlord or letting agent.
[Use the subject: Gas safety check]
I’m writing to ask for the annual gas safety check at [your address].
The check is overdue. The gas appliances and flues have not been inspected by a Gas Safe engineer for over 12 months.
Gas safety checks are a legal requirement under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998.
Landlords must give a copy of the latest gas safety record to tenants within 28 days of the check and to new tenants before they move in.
Please let me know when the check will take place so I can arrange access for the engineer.
I look forward to hearing from you within the next 10 days.
You can also send the letter as an email attachment or by post:
Word template: Overdue gas safety check (docx 14kb)
Gas safety certificates
The engineer gives your landlord a gas safety record after the check. This is often called a gas safety certificate.
Your landlord must give you a copy of the latest gas safety record both:
before you move in
within 28 days of each yearly gas safety check
Ask for a gas safety record
Copy our template into an email to your landlord.
[Use the subject: Gas safety record]
I’m writing to request a copy of the gas safety record for [your address].
I am a tenant at the above address and I have not yet received a copy of the latest gas safety record.
Please let me have this information within the next 10 days.
This is a legal requirement under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. The regulations state that landlords must make sure that gas appliances and flues in rented homes are maintained in good order and checked for safety at least once every 12 months.
Landlords must keep a record of the safety checks and issue these to their tenants.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Yours sincerely
You can also send the letter as an email attachment or by post:
Word template: Ask for a gas safety record (docx 21kb)
OpenDocument template: Ask for a gas safety record (odt 7kb)
Repair work after a gas safety check
Your landlord must arrange repairs if there are gas safety problems in your home.
More on landlord repair responsibilities.
Section 21 notices
Your landlord cannot usually give you a section 21 eviction notice until you have the latest gas safety record.
This applies to assured shorthold tenancies (ASTs) that started or were renewed on or after 1 October 2015.
More on when a section 21 notice is not valid.
Carbon monoxide and smoke alarms
Councils, housing associations and private landlords must provide:
smoke alarms on each floor of your home
carbon monoxide alarms in rooms with appliances that burn fuel for heat
Examples of fuel burning appliances are boilers and wood burning stoves.
Carbon monoxide alarms are not needed in rooms with only a gas cooker.
These rules do not apply to landlords of lodgers.
Checking and testing alarms
Your landlord must check that the alarms are working on the first day of your tenancy.
You should test the alarms monthly. If they do not work you should replace the batteries.
Tell your landlord if you cannot replace the batteries or if the alarms still do not work. Your landlord must repair or replace faulty alarms.
Worried about gas safety or carbon monoxide?
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have a gas safety advice line on 0800 300 363
The HSE can prosecute landlords who break gas safety rules. But they may not deal with all complaints.
Private tenants can contact your council's private rented housing team.
For example, if your landlord does not do gas safety checks or fit alarms.
More online information
Find more information for tenants, landlords and homeowners on the:
Last updated: 27 October 2025
