Every home should provide a safe, healthy and secure environment for its occupants.

We use the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) to identify and assess hazards that could affect the health, safety and wellbeing of occupants and visitors.

The HHSRS is a risk-based assessment tool supported by statutory guidance from the government.

The rating system identifies 21 hazards, which are listed below.

Hazards

• Protection against accidents
  1. Falls on the level
  2. Falling on stairs and similar
  3. Falling between levels
  4. Fire and explosions – read Lacors’ fire safety guidance [PDF]
  5. Flames, hot surfaces and similar
  6. Collisions, entrapment and ergonomics
  7. Structural collapse and falling elements
  8. Electrical hazards
• Physiological requirements
  9. Excess cold
  10. Radiation
  11. Damp and mould growth – read about reducing damp in your home
  12. Lead
  13. Indoor air pollutants
  14. Excess heat
  15. Asbestos and manufactured mineral fibres
• Protection against infection
  16. Domestic hygiene – read recycling information for landlords and managing agents [Greater Cambridge Shared Waste service]
  17. Water supply
• Psychological requirements
  18. Crowding and space – read Shelter’s guidance about overcrowding
  19. Entry by intruders
  20. Noise
  21. Lighting and obstructed views

Hazard ratings

We might assess any of the 21 hazards during a housing standards inspection. When we identify a hazard, we assess its risk level as either:

• Category 1 (High)
• Category 2 (Medium)
• Category 3 (Low)

The hazard rating is based on the most vulnerable potential occupant of the property.

Guidance for landlords and agents

If you are a landlord or property agent, you are responsible for ensuring that your properties:

• are free from significant hazards
• meet relevant legal standards

The government provides a landlord and agent guide to the Housing Health and Safety Rating System [GOV.UK].

The guide explains how we assess properties. It will help you understand your responsibilities for keeping homes hazard-free.

Guidance for tenants

Understanding housing hazards can help you identify problems that might affect your health, safety or wellbeing.

The government provides a tenant guide to the Housing Health and Safety Rating System [GOV.UK].

The guide outlines common hazards found in homes and how we assess them.

It explains:

• what responsibilities your landlord has for maintaining safe housing conditions
• how we will inspect and enforce this

Enforcement action

When we identify a Category 1 (High) hazard, we have a duty to take the most appropriate enforcement action.

When we identify a Category 2 (Medium or Low) hazard, we have discretionary powers to take enforcement action.

The courses of action available to us where we have a duty or a power to act include:

• serving a hazard awareness notice
• serving an improvement notice requiring remedial works
• making a prohibition order, which closes all or part of a home or restricts the number of permitted occupants
• taking emergency remedial action where there is an imminent risk of serious harm
• making an emergency prohibition order where occupation of all or part of a home must stop immediately
• making a demolition order

We will consider the vulnerability of the actual occupant when deciding the best course of action.

We retain the power to act in default and prosecute for lack of compliance. We are also able to recover charges for enforcement actions.

Where a person fails to comply with a statutory notice, we may carry out works in default and recover our costs. We may also take legal action, including prosecution where appropriate. We are entitled to recover charges associated with certain enforcement actions.

The landlord and agent guide to the Housing Health and Safety Rating System [GOV.UK] contains further information about enforcement.

Charges

In accordance with section 49 of the Housing Act 2004, we will charge for serving certain formal enforcement notices:

• Improvement notice: £419
• Prohibition order: £379
• Emergency remedial action: £355
• Review of suspended notices and orders: £127
• Hazard awareness notice: No charge

We review these charges every year.

If we have to serve multiple notices to the same property, we can apply the charge to each individual notice. The charges will become a local land charge on the property until we have recovered the full cost.