Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, is he will grant a (a) 3 and (b) 6 month extension to the deadline for completion of an annual gas safety check for housing association properties during the covid-19 outbreak.

Gas safety inspections save lives and the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) has made clear that extending the period of gas safety inspections at this time could put tenants at risk of serious illness or fatalities from gas explosions or carbon monoxide poisoning.

Landlords should make every effort to abide by statutory gas safety obligations. However, we recognise that the current restrictions may be making it harder to carry out these checks. There are provisions in the regulations for landlords to account for situations in which they cannot carry out inspections, however they must demonstrate they have taken all reasonable steps to comply with the law. Recognising the concern among social landlords, residents and inspectors, on 7 April 2020, HSE published further guidance setting out detailed advice for a range of scenarios. This can be found here: https://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/help-and-advice/covid-19-advice-and-guidance/landlords/.