On 23 June 2026, the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (England) Amendment Regulations 2026 came into force. The regulations introduce significant changes to the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) which is the statutory risk-based assessment tool used by local authorities to evaluate and ensure that any residential premises provide a safe and healthy environment for occupiers and visitors. The amended HHSRS will apply only to inspections commenced on or after 23 June 2026.
In this article we examine the framework of the HHSRS, outline the key changes introduced by the amending regulations and set out some concluding practical thoughts for landlords.
The first housing fitness system, the Housing Fitness Standard, was introduced in 1990. It was a basic pass or fail system based on nine categories but it failed to address a number of the more serious health and safety hazards, e.g. fire hazards, and did not distinguish between minor and serious health and safety risks or hazards. The standard was replaced by the HHSRS in 2006.
The HHSRS was introduced by the Housing Act 2004 to replace the previous Housing Fitness Standard. In simple terms it is a risk assessment tool designed to:
identify prescribed housing hazards such as damp and mould,
assess the risk of harm posed by each hazard,
produce a score for every hazard and
place hazards into one of two categories:
Category 1 – serious hazards representing high risk to health and safety and requires the council to take action.
Category 2 – less serious but still significant risk. The council has a discretion whether to take action.
The original HHSRS was complex and difficult to apply in practice. The amending regulations have not replaced the system or its legal framework but, rather, have restructured and simplified the description and scoring of hazards.
The core purpose of the original HHSRS framework has been retained but there have been a number of amendments. The key changes are as follows:
The number of prescribed housing hazards that may “threaten the health or safety of occupiers in an individual residential dwelling” has been reduced from 29 to 21 and consolidated into the following categories:
Protection against accidents e.g. falls on stairs etc
Physiological requirements e.g. damp and mould growth
Protection against infection e.g. domestic hygiene
Psychological requirements e.g. overcrowding
The definition now includes not only exposure to uncontrolled fire and associated smoke, but also where the risk of harm arises from exposure to fumes associated with a fire, an explosion, or the collapse of the whole or part of a building as a result of fire or an explosion.
The four harm classes have been renamed from classes I, II, III and IV to extreme, severe, serious and moderate. Examples of each harm are set out in the government guidance and include:
Extreme: death, 80% burn injuries
Severe: cardio-respiratory disease, serious fractures, mild stroke
Serious: sleep disturbance, mild heart attack, eye disorders
Moderate: regular serious coughs or colds, slight concussion
The method for this which is expressed as a numerical score has been simplified.
The seriousness of housing hazards was previously categorised using a meaningless letter-based hazard band system of A to J. This has been replaced with the following three simply named bands:
High: Category 1 hazards scoring 1,000 or above, previously bands A-C
Medium: Category 2 hazards scoring between 100 and 999, previously D-F
Low: Category 2 hazards scoring up to 99, previously G-J
These have been produced as an example of best practice and are included in the official guidance. They are not minimum standards and do not replace the risk assessment aspect of the HHSRS but if the indicators are not met then it will be noted as a deficiency.
As noted above, councils must take enforcement action against landlords in respect of Category 1 hazards; they have a discretion with regards to Category 2 hazards. Enforcement action can range from serving an improvement notice to making a prohibition order. The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 also gives councils the power to impose civil penalties of up to £7,000 for Category 1 hazards only.
The HHSRS regime is well established, and most landlords already have effective inspection and maintenance systems in place to identify and address hazards at an early stage.
The key point for landlords is to ensure that these processes are consistently followed and supported by comprehensive record-keeping. With the government having allocated £60 million to local authorities to support their enforcement of the Renters’ Rights Act, it is likely that Category 1 hazards will be pursued more actively, particularly given that councils can retain the financial penalties they impose.
For further information please contact our property disputes team.
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