Leaseholders Handbook
Safety and security
Each resident is responsible for ensuring the safety and security of their own flat. If you receive a visit from a member of staff from Kingston Council or one of our contractors ask to see their identification.
Fire alarms
The fire brigade will carry out fire safety visits on request and can give advice when required. You can install wireless smoke alarms in rooms as an additional precaution. If you are letting your flat you must ensure a fire alarm is fitted on each storey. You have a responsibility to make sure that all electrical equipment is in good working order and regularly serviced.
Gas safety record
As a homeowner you are required, under the terms of the buildings insurance policy, to ensure any gas appliances (such as your boiler and/or cooker) and pipework in the property are checked every 12 months by a qualified gas engineer.
You must secure a copy of the current gas safety certificate for your property on a yearly basis and provide this to the Council upon request. This will be held along with the certificates for any
neighbouring properties to form a comprehensive record of gas safety for your building as a whole.
If you are letting the property, either to private or Council tenants, you are responsible for ensuring a landlord’s gas safety record is maintained for the property and a copy of the current record is provided
to the Council. To find a gas safe registered engineer in your area please visit: www.gassaferegister.co.uk or call 0800 408 5500.
As the landlord of a Council leasehold property you are at risk of criminal prosecution if you fail to maintain, and supply the Council with a copy of a current landlord’s gas safety record.
Carbon monoxide alarms
Additionally, landlords must ensure that there is a carbon monoxide alarm fitted in any room that is used partly or wholly as living accommodation which also contains any appliance which burns, or is capable of burning, solid fuel. This would include log and coal burning stoves and open fires, even if they are not normally in use, but does not include gas and oil boilers. If an open fireplace is purely
decorative and not useable then it is not covered by the regulations