Landlord gas safety certificate (CP12) in north and east London

The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 put three duties on landlords. Every gas appliance and flue you provide must be checked for safety every 12 months by a Gas Safe registered engineer. Pipework, appliances and flues must be kept in a safe condition. And you must keep a record of each check.

The record has to reach existing tenants within 28 days of the check, and new tenants before they move in. HSE says you must keep records for at least two years. The paper used to be called a CP12, and many London letting agents still ask for it by that name.

Since 2018 you can have the check done up to two months before the deadline and keep the original date, a bit like an MOT. If you use that window, keep the record until two more checks have been done, so you can show the dates.

Private renting is far higher here than in most of England. The 2021 Census found 38.5% of households in Newham, 38.2% in Tower Hamlets and 35.6% in both Camden and Haringey rent privately, against 20.5% for England as a whole (ONS).

Newham has run borough wide selective licensing for years, and Waltham Forest started a new scheme in May 2025 that runs to April 2030 across most wards. If you let in those boroughs, the council will want to see a current gas safety record as part of your licence.

In a shared house the landlord is responsible for every appliance they provide, plus any communal boiler that heats more than one flat. A tenant's own appliance is the tenant's to check, but the pipework feeding it is still yours to maintain.

Watch the bedrooms. HSE guidance says that since 31 October 1998 a room converted for sleeping should not contain a gas fire, space heater or water heater unless it is room sealed, or for smaller appliances has an atmosphere sensing device. In a Victorian house turned into an HMO, an old gas fire in a front room that is now a bedroom is exactly the kind of thing the check picks up.

If the record is still within its 12 months when a new tenant moves in, you can give them a copy of it. HSE still recommends a fresh look at the appliances and a pipework test when a property has stood empty or tenants have removed their own cooker, because open pipe ends and turned off valves are common after a move. We can do this check on the day the flat is empty, before keys are handed over.

Have the last record to hand if you have one, so the engineer can see what was listed before. Make sure the tenant knows the visit is booked and that every appliance can be reached, including boilers inside cupboards full of coats and hobs under stored pans. If a cooker or fire belongs to the tenant, tell us, so the record shows who owns what. If the property is in a block with a communal boiler or a shared flue, give us the managing agent's details, because HSE expects the landlord to coordinate with the building owner to get those checked.