Your HHSRS Checklist Is Out of Date: The June 2026 Housing Safety Reforms

The HHSRS was overhauled on 23 June 2026. Hazards reduced from 29 to 21, £7,000 per Category 1 hazard. Pre-June checklists are now out of date.

On 23 June 2026, the Housing Health and Safety Rating System — the framework councils use to assess whether a rental property is safe enough to live in — was significantly reformed under the Renters' Rights Act 2025. Most landlords are unaware the changes happened. If your last self-assessment used a checklist downloaded before June 2026, it is now built around a framework that no longer reflects the law.

What HHSRS is and why it matters

HHSRS is the tool local housing authorities use when inspecting private rented properties. When a council inspector visits — whether following a tenant complaint, a proactive inspection, or as part of a licensing check — they assess the property against a defined list of hazards. If they find a Category 1 hazard, they are legally required to take enforcement action. If they find a Category 2 hazard, they may do so.

Enforcement under HHSRS can include:

Improvement notices requiring you to remedy the hazard
Prohibition orders barring the property from being let
Civil penalties of up to £7,000 per Category 1 hazard under the Housing Act 2004
In severe cases, emergency prohibition orders taking effect immediately

What changed on 23 June 2026

The reform made three structural changes.

The hazard list shrank from 29 to 21. Eight hazards were removed or consolidated. The categories and weightings used in any pre-June 2026 self-assessment tool are therefore no longer accurate. A checklist built around 29 hazards is working from a superseded list.

The scoring bands were simplified and harm class labels updated. The previous ten scoring bands (A to J) have been replaced with three: High, Medium, and Low. A High score means the hazard is Category 1 — the council must act. Medium or Low means Category 2 — the council may act. Separately, the four harm classes were relabelled: Classes I, II, III, and IV are now called Extreme, Severe, Serious, and Moderate. This is a labelling change only; the underlying scope of each class is unchanged.

The penalty exposure has sharpened. The £7,000 per Category 1 hazard civil penalty applies per hazard, not per property. A property assessed as having Category 1 findings across damp, fire risk, and excess cold, for example, could face penalties that stack across all three.

Why this matters more than it might seem

The landlords most exposed are those who use a self-assessment template — one they downloaded themselves or one provided by a letting agent — to check their properties before an inspection. If that template pre-dates June 2026, it is built around the old list of 29 hazards and the old category structure. Working from it does not demonstrate compliance with the current law. Worse, it can create a false sense of security.

Councils have been actively funded by the government to enforce housing standards under the Renters' Rights Act. An inspector using the new 21-hazard framework will find discrepancies that an old-framework self-assessment did not flag. Pointing to an outdated checklist as evidence of due diligence is unlikely to carry much weight in enforcement proceedings.

What to do now

Step 1: Check your properties against the 21 current hazards. The reformed framework retains the highest-priority areas — damp and mould, excess cold, falls on stairs and level surfaces, fire safety, electrical hazards, and entry by intruders. Start your review here.

Step 2: Replace any template produced before June 2026. A checklist built around 29 hazards is now legally stale. Working from outdated documents provides no meaningful protection in an enforcement situation.

Step 3: Document a written self-assessment. A written self-assessment does not prevent enforcement if a serious hazard exists — but it does demonstrate good faith. Local authorities take a more proportionate approach when landlords can show they have actively engaged with their obligations.

Step 4: Prioritise anything that would rate as High risk under the new harm classes. A High-rated hazard under the reformed system is the equivalent of what previously attracted mandatory enforcement action. These need to be addressed without delay.

The audit trail problem

HHSRS is not a once-and-done certificate. There is no document that expires and triggers a renewal reminder. Your obligation is ongoing: the property must be free from Category 1 hazards at all times. The practical implication is that landlords need a way to track not just the statutory certificates (gas, EICR, EPC) but also the physical condition of the property over time — when a condition inspection was last carried out, what it found, and what action was taken. That audit trail is what distinguishes a landlord who can demonstrate good faith from one who cannot.

mypy's compliance hub tracks certificate cycles alongside a property-condition log, and will flag when underlying standards change. Try it free for your first two properties.

Frequently asked questions

What is the HHSRS and when did it change?

The Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) is the statutory framework that local housing authorities use to assess hazards in residential properties, introduced under the Housing Act 2004. On 23 June 2026 it was reformed under the Renters' Rights Act 2025, reducing the hazard list from 29 to 21, simplifying the scoring bands from ten to three (High, Medium, Low), and relabelling the four harm classes (formerly Classes I–IV, now Extreme, Severe, Serious, and Moderate).

Do I need to carry out a new HHSRS assessment now?

There is no legal requirement to carry out a formal self-assessment — but any self-assessment template produced before June 2026 is now built around a superseded framework and should be replaced. A written, current self-assessment demonstrates good faith if enforcement action follows.

What is the penalty for a Category 1 HHSRS hazard?

A local housing authority can impose a civil penalty of up to £7,000 per Category 1 hazard under the Housing Act 2004. The penalty applies per hazard, not per property — a property with multiple Category 1 findings can attract multiple penalties.

Which hazards were removed in the June 2026 reform?

The full revised hazard list is set out in the updated HHSRS guidance on GOV.UK. The number was reduced from 29 to 21 through consolidation and removal of hazards that rarely featured in enforcement. Any checklist downloaded before June 2026 reflects the old list.

Does HHSRS replace the gas safety certificate or EICR?

No. HHSRS is a risk-assessment framework used by inspectors — it does not replace the specific statutory certificates. Gas Safety Records (CP12) and EICRs remain separately required under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 and the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 respectively.

Sources

This article is general guidance, not legal advice. Verify your obligations against current GOV.UK guidance or seek professional advice for your circumstances. Last reviewed 2026-07-03.