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The Housing Health & Safety Rating System (HHSRS) is the way in which local authorities (‘councils’) assess housing conditions in England and Wales. It uses a risk assessment approach. The aim is to provide a system (not a standard) to enable risks from hazards to health and safety in dwellings to be removed or minimised. The method is prescribed by Regulations, made under the new Housing Act.

HHSRS replaced the Fitness Standard and as such, has become an integral part of the Decent Homes Standard.

The Housing Health & Safety Rating System (HHSRS) is the way in which local authorities (‘councils’) assess housing conditions in England and Wales. It uses a risk assessment approach. The aim is to provide a system (not a standard) to enable risks from hazards to health and safety in dwellings to be removed or minimised. The method is prescribed by Regulations, made under the new Housing Act.

HHSRS replaced the Fitness Standard and as such, has become an integral part of the Decent Homes Standard.

It provides a method of grading the severity of threats to health and safety in any dwelling, in all sectors. A dwelling can include a:

• house
• self-contained flat
• non self-contained flat
• bedsit
• a room in a university hall or similar residential building and includes the means of access and shared or common rooms and facilities.

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.

The inspection process is a risk based assessment and considers the effect of any ‘hazards’ in the property. Hazards are rated according to how serious they are and the effect they are having, or could have, on the occupants, that is, ‘the effect of the defect’.

It should be borne in mind that all properties contain hazards, for example stairs, electrical outlets etc. and it is not possible (or desirable) to remove all hazards. The emphasis should be to minimise the risk to health and safety as far as possible either by removing the hazard altogether or minimising the effect, as appropriate.

The system can deal with 29 hazards summarised as follows:

• Dampness, excess cold/heat
• Pollutants e.g. asbestos, carbon monoxide, lead
• Lack of space, security or lighting, or excessive noise
• Poor hygiene, sanitation, water supply
• Accidents – falls, electric shocks, fires, burns, scalds
• Collisions, explosions, structural collapse

Each hazard is assessed separately, and if judged to be ‘serious’, with a ‘high score’, is deemed to be a category 1 hazard. All other hazards are called category 2 hazards.

HHSRS Inspections are essentially carried out in the traditional fashion, i.e. a physical assessment of the whole property during which deficiencies (faults) are noted and recorded.

Once the inspection has been completed, the inspector judges:

HHSRS Inspections are essentially carried out in the traditional fashion, i.e. a physical assessment of the whole property during which deficiencies (faults) are noted and recorded.

Once the inspection has been completed, the inspector judges:

• Whether there are any hazards
• The likelihood of an occurrence and the range of possible outcomes for those hazards

Each assessment of a hazard is carried out using the HHSRS results in a score. The score is a numerical representation of the degree of risk represented by a hazard. Although the calculation can be carried out on paper, most inspectors will use a computer software programme to calculate the scores.

All hazards are rated and scored individually. A formula is used which takes into account the nature of the hazard, the likelihood of an occurrence and the seriousness of the outcome (known as the spread of possible harms).

At its simplest, the formula is:

Risk (likelihood) x Outcome = Numerical Score

The severity of a potential hazard is assessed in relation to a member of the age group most vulnerable to the hazard and who might be in that dwelling.

Whilst the assessment will always be based on the most vulnerable age group, any enforcement action taken should reflect the actual occupants.

For some hazards, all age groups are equally vulnerable while for others, such as gaps between balusters, the hazard would be judged in terms of a young child.

The likelihood and the severity combine to generate a hazard score. Hazards fall into category 1 hazards or category 2 hazards.

In simple terms, the greater the risk (likelihood), or more serious the outcome, the higher the overall score. An example of a high score would be a gas water heater leaking carbon monoxide – the risk is high and the outcome could be death.

An owner or agent who has an improvement notice or prohibition order served on him by a local council can appeal the notice, normally within 21 days. Appeals are heard by a Residential Property Tribunal (RPT).

RPTs have replaced the previous role of the County Court in hearing appeals against such action. There is no restriction on the ground of appeal but the main grounds for appeal are likely to be that :

An owner or agent who has an improvement notice or prohibition order served on him by a local council can appeal the notice, normally within 21 days. Appeals are heard by the First-Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber – Residential Property).

The First-Tier Tribunals have replaced the previous role of the County Court in hearing appeals against such action. There is no restriction on the ground of appeal but the main grounds for appeal are likely to be that :

• The deficiency referred to in the notice does not amount to a hazard;
• someone else is responsible for carrying out work at the property and the notice should be served on that person; and/or
• the works required in the notice are unreasonable/excessive etc and alternative works should be considered

The First-Tier Tribunal may also mediate where possible between local councils and owners/agents to try to resolve appeals without a formal hearing.

If a notice is not complied with within the time allowed (usually 28 days), prosecutions for non compliance are heard in magistrates courts. One defence that would be considered at this stage is that the notice was incorrectly served.

The hazard score does not dictate the action to be taken, but councils have a duty under the Act to take action of some kind if they discover a category 1 hazard in a property, and a power to take action to deal with a category 2 hazard.

Their first step should be to approach the landlord informally – this is recommended by the Government under the Enforcement Concordat.

The hazard score does not dictate the action to be taken, but councils have a duty under the Act to take action of some kind if they discover a category 1 hazard in a property, and a power to take action to deal with a category 2 hazard.

Their first step should be to approach the landlord informally – this is recommended by the Government under the Enforcement Concordat.

If the landlord does not respond, the council is most likely to move into formal action by serving an improvement notice on the owner (or agent as appropriate) requiring that the hazard(s) be removed or minimised within a set time – generally 28 days.

In more serious cases, a council may serve a prohibition order prohibiting the use of all or part of a dwelling.

It should be remembered that serious hazards are not always expensive to remove. A category 1 hazard could, for example, be removed by fitting a lock to a window or fixing a handrail to a staircase.

For minor hazards, a council could serve a hazard awareness notice which is exactly what it says. Such notices are simply advice and do not actually require owners to do anything (they are also not registerable as a land charge).

If a hazard is specific to a child or elderly person but no children or elderly people occupy the property, the council could decide to suspend the notice (or part of it) until such time as a child or elderly person moves in.

If a notice, or part of it, is suspended the council is obliged to review the situation at least once a year to check if the suspension continues to be justified, or should be revoked so that the notice is activated.