No, you do not have to check a gas cooker your tenant owns and may take with them when they leave. Regulation 36(1) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 as amended excludes such an appliance from the term "relevant gas fitting", so in England your annual safety check duty does not reach that cooker. The pipework behind it, and the point it connects to, are a different matter. Those stay with you. This page sets out where the line runs, what goes on your record, and what happens when an engineer finds a tenant's appliance unsafe.
Does a landlord have to check a tenant's own gas cooker?
No, not the cooker itself. Regulation 36(1) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 as amended defines a relevant gas fitting as any gas appliance other than one the tenant is entitled to remove from the property. A cooker the tenant bought, and can take with them, sits outside that definition. HSE says the same in plain words: where a tenant has their own appliance that you did not provide, your duties in England cover parts of the installation and the pipework, not the appliance.
The tenant carries that appliance. HSE states that tenants are responsible for the safety check of appliances they own, and for the flue where it serves only their appliance. Set this out in the tenancy agreement before the tenant moves in. It saves an argument at the door on the day of the annual check.
Ownership decides the duty, not the room the appliance stands in. If you provided the appliance, it is yours to have checked every 12 months, whether it is fixed or portable. HSE names an LPG cabinet heater supplied by the landlord as an example of a portable appliance inside the duty.
Who is responsible for the hose and connection point behind a tenant's gas cooker?
You are. Installation pipework in the property is a relevant gas fitting under regulation 36(1), and in England you must keep it in a safe condition. HSE explains that installation pipework is not itself subject to the annual safety check requirement, but it must be maintained. The generally accepted approach HSE describes is a tightness test on the whole installation plus a visual inspection of the pipework, carried out at the same time as the safety check.
Pipework from the meter to the appliance belongs in your maintenance programme. HSE describes effective maintenance as a rolling programme of inspection and repair, covering the condition and safe functioning of appliances, installation pipework, ventilation and flues. A tenant's cooker can change how a room ventilates. Judging that is work for a Gas Safe registered engineer, meaning an engineer working for a business on the register HSE approves for gas work.
Nobody else may connect the cooker. Regulation 3 of the same Regulations says no person shall carry out work on a gas fitting unless competent, and that work must be done by a member of an HSE-approved class of persons. That rules out the tenant fitting their own cooker, and it rules out you doing it.
Appliance you provided or appliance the tenant owns: which landlord duties change in England
The split follows two questions: did you provide the appliance, and may the tenant remove it. Everything fixed to the property's gas installation stays on your side of the line in England.
| What is at stake | Appliance you provided | Appliance the tenant owns |
|---|---|---|
| Annual gas safety check | Yours to arrange, within 12 months of installation and at intervals of no more than 12 months after that | The tenant arranges the check on the appliance they own |
| Installation pipework serving it | Yours to keep in a safe condition | Still yours, because pipework in the property is a relevant gas fitting |
| Flue serving only that appliance | Yours, checked along with the appliance | The tenant's, where the flue serves their appliance alone; HSE advises including it anyway |
| Entry on the landlord gas safety record | Listed with its description and location | Not a landlord item; the tenant may hold a record of their own |
| Who may carry out the work | Gas Safe registered engineer | Gas Safe registered engineer; the tenant may not fit or move it themselves |
Second-hand appliances are where this bites hardest. HSE advises a tenant buying a used gas appliance to have it checked before purchase, because the annual check and the servicing then fall to them. A cheap cooker from a classified advert can arrive with no history at all.
Does a tenant's own cooker appear on your landlord gas safety record?
Your record lists the appliances and flues you had checked, so an appliance you neither own nor provided normally does not appear as a landlord item. HSE sets the minimum content of the record: a description and the location of each appliance and flue checked, the engineer's name, registration number and signature, the date of the check, the property address, your name and address, any safety defects found and the action taken. The tenant may hold a separate record for their own appliance.
Keep each record for at least two years. In England, give a copy to an existing tenant within 28 days of the check, and to a new tenant before they move in. Regulation 36 also requires the record to be available for inspection by a lawful occupier on request, with reasonable notice. More on what belongs on the document is in our guide to which appliances, pipework and flues appear on a gas safety record, and the handover deadlines are set out in giving your tenant a copy.
What happens if an engineer finds a tenant's own gas appliance unsafe?
An unsafe appliance gets a warning label and goes out of use, whoever owns it. A Gas Safe registered engineer classifies a dangerous appliance as At Risk or Immediately Dangerous, and HSE states that both carry a "Danger Do Not Use" label. An appliance turned off by a registered engineer must not be used again until the fault has been put right. HSE is also clear that it is against the law to use a gas appliance anyone suspects is unsafe.
Act on defects recorded against your own fittings without delay. Where you suspect an appliance is dangerous, HSE expects you to make sure it is not used until the fault is fixed. Repair costs for the tenant's own cooker sit with the tenant. Repairs to installation pipework, or to an appliance you provided, sit with you. The two classifications are explained further in our guide to Immediately Dangerous and At Risk.
If anyone smells gas, HSE advice is to open doors and windows, leave the building and call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999. Nobody in the household should attempt anything on the gas installation. Work on gas, on a flue or inside an appliance case is for a Gas Safe registered engineer only.
Tenants' portable gas heaters in England: CO alarm rules and bedroom restrictions
A portable gas heater a tenant brings in is not a fixed combustion appliance, so the carbon monoxide alarm duty does not attach to it. The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (Amendment) Regulations 2022 apply in England and have required, since 1 October 2022, a carbon monoxide alarm in every room used as living accommodation that contains a fixed combustion appliance. A fixed combustion appliance is an installed appliance burning fuel of any kind to produce heat, such as a gas boiler or a wood burner. Gas cookers are excepted from that requirement.
No alarm duty does not mean no risk. A tenant running a portable heater in a bedroom is a reason to have the room assessed. Regulation 36 bars a landlord from installing a relevant gas fitting in a room used as sleeping accommodation where regulation 30(2) or (3) would be breached.
HSE sets out the restrictions on non-room-sealed appliances in bedrooms, meaning appliances that draw combustion air from the room itself. They apply to appliances installed after 1 January 1996, and to rooms in rented homes converted to sleeping accommodation after 31 October 1998. Non-room-sealed appliances rated at 14 kW or less need an atmosphere sensing device that shuts the appliance down. Ventilation and flue questions of this kind are for a Gas Safe registered engineer to assess, not for you or the tenant.
What if a tenant refuses access, or leaves a gas appliance behind?
You must be able to show all reasonable steps towards getting the check done. HSE is clear that you may not force entry. Its guidance suggests leaving a notice, writing to explain the legal duty, letting the tenant arrange a time that suits them, and keeping every letter and message. HSE inspectors look for at least three attempts, and a court decides in the end whether enough was done.
An access clause in the tenancy agreement makes this easier from day one. The duty itself cannot be handed to the tenant by a contract term. Renting out a single room makes you a landlord for gas purposes too, as set out in our guide to a gas safety certificate for a lodger. HSE prosecutes landlords who leave gas appliances unchecked.
An appliance abandoned by a previous tenant turns on one question: is it now an appliance you provide, and may the new tenant remove it. If it has become yours, it is a relevant gas fitting, and it belongs in the annual check and on the record. If you would rather it went, a Gas Safe registered engineer can disconnect and remove it. You can arrange the annual check and the record for your own appliances and pipework through our landlord gas safety certificate service.
Sources
- HSE - Gas safety checks: what needs them?
- Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, regulation 36
- HSE - Maintenance: gas pipework
- HSE - Gas safety check records and what to keep
- HSE - Gas safety checks: what if...?
- HSE - Dealing with tenants
- HSE - Guidance for students using gas appliances in rented accommodation
- GOV.UK - Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (Amendment) Regulations 2022: guidance for landlords and tenants
- GOV.UK - Private renting: your landlord's safety responsibilities
- HSE - Domestic gas: frequently asked questions