In England the gas safety check duty falls on whoever lets a property they own under a lease of less than seven years or under a licence. In most blocks that is the leaseholder who sub-lets the flat, not the freeholder, because a long lease of 99, 125 or 999 years sits outside that definition. The freeholder or building owner remains responsible for communal gas appliances, flues and pipework serving the block. These duties come from the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 as amended, with regulation 36 covering landlords. Your lease fills in the rest: it states who handles repairs and which parts of the building you hold.
Who counts as the landlord for gas safety in a leasehold flat?
The landlord for gas safety purposes is whoever lets a property they own under a lease of less than seven years, or under a licence. HSE draws the line there. A flat sold on a long lease of 99, 125 or 999 years falls outside that definition. The freeholder who granted that long lease does not carry the safety check duty for the gas appliances inside your flat.
In England the duty sits in regulation 36 of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 as amended. Every relevant gas appliance and its flue must be checked within 12 months of installation, then at intervals of no more than 12 months. The check and any work must be done by a Gas Safe registered engineer, meaning someone from a class of person approved by HSE. Our guide to landlord gas safety in England sets out the duty in full.
A long lease does not push the gas safety duty up to the freeholder. If you own a leasehold flat and let it on a tenancy of under seven years, you are the landlord under regulation 36 for the appliances and flues you provide.
Living in your leasehold flat or sub-letting it: what changes for the gas check?
Whether your leasehold flat needs an annual gas safety record depends on one thing: whether somebody rents it from you. The table compares the same flat in both positions, under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 as amended in England.
| Point | You live in the flat yourself | You sub-let it on a tenancy under 7 years |
|---|---|---|
| Duty under regulation 36 | No landlord duty applies to you. HSE still advises an annual check by a Gas Safe registered engineer. | You are the landlord for the appliances and flues you provide, and the annual check is a legal duty. |
| Annual gas safety record | Not required by law. Many owners keep a service record to protect the boiler guarantee. | Required every 12 months, and the record is kept for two years. |
| Copy for the occupier | Nobody to issue it to. The record stays with your own paperwork. | Copy to existing tenants within 28 days of the check, and to new tenants before they move in. |
| Access to the flat | You arrange the appointment for your own home. | You arrange it and must show all reasonable steps if the tenant refuses entry. |
| Communal appliances and flues | Looked after by the building owner or the managing body named in your lease. | Still the building owner, but your arrangements must let you evidence those checks. |
One point stays the same in both columns. Gas appliances, flues and pipework shared by the block remain the building owner's responsibility, whoever occupies your flat.
Who is responsible for communal boilers, flues and pipework in a block of flats?
The building owner is responsible for communal gas appliances, flues and pipework. That is usually the freeholder, or a Right to Manage company where leaseholders have taken over the management of the block. HSE is explicit for landlords who are not the building owner: your arrangements with the building owner must make sure communal plant used by your tenants is properly maintained and safety checked. Evidence of those checks has to be available to you and to your Gas Safe registered engineer.
A communal flue serving several flats still has to be maintained by a Gas Safe registered engineer. If you let one of those flats, that means coordinating with the building owner or managing agent. The same applies to a boiler that serves your flat but stands outside it, such as one in a plant room.
Your lease decides the detail. GOV.UK describes a lease as a private legal agreement that states whether you or your landlord has responsibility for repairs. A Right to Manage company takes on duties such as managing service charges and maintaining the common parts and structure of the building.
The flue from your flat runs through a ceiling void: who deals with it?
A flue hidden in a ceiling or wall void is assessed by a Gas Safe registered engineer, never by the occupier. HSE has warned about this in flats and apartments completed since around 2000. Where the boiler does not sit on an outside wall, the flue often runs through a void and cannot be seen during a service. If a flue is faulty and the boiler is not burning correctly, dangerous levels of carbon monoxide can reach the living space.
Inspection hatches give the engineer sight of the flue. HSE also notes a carbon monoxide void monitoring and shutdown system as an alternative in certain cases. Hatches in a communal ceiling or corridor usually need the freeholder or managing agent to agree, because that void sits outside the part of the building your lease gives you. Our guide on a boiler flue in a ceiling void explains what the engineer needs to see.
Sub-letting a leasehold flat: what the gas safety record must show and who gets a copy
Keep each gas safety record for two years and give your tenant a copy. HSE sets the timings for England: existing tenants within 28 days of the check, new tenants before they move in. GOV.UK states the same duty for landlords renting out a property.
Regulation 36 lists what the record has to contain:
- the date of the check and the address of the property
- a description and the location of each appliance and flue checked
- any defect identified and the action taken to put it right
- confirmation of the checks carried out on each appliance and flue
- the name and signature of the engineer, and the registration number of the business
A new lease brings its own timing. Under regulation 36 the check must have been carried out in the 12 months before the lease begins, or within 12 months of the appliance being installed, whichever is later. Deadlines for handing records over are covered in our guide on giving your tenant a copy.
What if your tenant or subtenant will not let the engineer into the flat?
Forcing entry is not allowed, so a landlord has to show that all reasonable steps were taken. HSE describes what that looks like in practice. Leave a notice with contact details after a missed appointment. Explain in writing that the check is a legal requirement and is there for the tenant's safety.
Give the tenant the chance to arrange the appointment themselves. HSE inspectors expect to see at least three attempts, with the correspondence kept on file. Where a tenant keeps refusing, HSE suggests considering legal action under the terms of the tenancy agreement. In blocks of flats the same problem often arises with short lets, so note every attempt as it happens.
You live in your leasehold flat: is an annual gas check still worth arranging?
Owner-occupiers in a leasehold flat have no duty under regulation 36, but HSE strongly advises having every gas appliance, flue and pipe checked and serviced at least once a year by a Gas Safe registered engineer. Carbon monoxide is invisible, tasteless and has no smell, and HSE warns that it can kill quickly. The annual visit is the only reliable way the flue and the burner get looked at.
Boiler guarantees often depend on it too. Worcester Bosch states that yearly servicing is a condition of its guarantee and must be completed each year to keep it valid. Vaillant requires the boiler to be serviced annually by a Gas Safe registered engineer to the manufacturer's instructions. Baxi drops cover back to the standard period without an annual service, and Ideal says a missed service can invalidate the guarantee.
Between visits you can safely look at the boiler pressure gauge, the thermostat and programmer settings, the reset button, and bleed a cold radiator. Anything involving gas, the flue or the inside of the boiler casing is work for a Gas Safe registered engineer. For a flat you let, you can arrange the annual check and landlord gas safety certificate (CP12) for the appliances you provide.
Sources
- HSE – Who is a landlord?
- Legislation.gov.uk – Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, regulation 36
- HSE – Gas safety checks: who needs them?
- HSE – Gas safety checks: what needs them?
- HSE – Gas safety check records and what to keep
- HSE – Dealing with tenants
- HSE – Gas boilers: flues in voids
- HSE – Gas safety: home owners
- GOV.UK – Leaseholder rights and responsibilities
- GOV.UK – Leasehold property: Right to Manage and management disputes
- GOV.UK – Renting out a property: landlord responsibilities
- Worcester Bosch – In-guarantee boiler service
- Vaillant – Domestic boiler guarantee terms and conditions
- Baxi – Boiler warranty information
- Ideal Heating – Boiler servicing guide