Housing associations demand same gas access rights as local authorities

Campaigners are seeking a meeting with Housing Minister Brandon Lewis in a bid to ensure housing associations have the same access rights as local authorities to properties to conduct annual gas safety checks.

The move would require changes to the Gas Safety (Installation & Use) Regulations 1998.

The Gas Access Campaign – led by Home Group, the Association of Gas Safety Managers and CORGI Technical Services – cited research saying it cost the social housing sector £50m to gain access, with housing associations forced to secure court orders as a last resort.

They said it could at present take as long as four months for social landlords to gain legal access. This compared to just 24 hours for local authorities.

Mark Henderson, Home Group chief executive, said: “The costs involved in lengthy court action combined with the significant numbers of tenants who refuse social landlords access may not be immediately obvious.

“However the level of response to the campaign speaks volumes, housing associations representing more than one million homes have signed up.”

Henderson added: “Gas access costs the sector £50m each year. In a time of austerity this money could be used to build more homes or to finance some of the valuable work associations carry out in communities throughout the country.

“This is an issue which risks lives, the lives of tenants who refuse access and the lives of their neighbours. It could be resolved very simply with an amendment to a couple of paragraphs of legislation.”

The Department for Communities and Local Government issued a statement saying it had “yet to see hard evidence of why landlords are unable to exercise these contractual (entry) rights”.