Gas safety in a London HMO: what the landlord has to check

Shared houses are common across east London. In Tower Hamlets, 38.2% of households rented privately in the 2021 Census, and 81% of households lived in purpose built flats (ONS, Tower Hamlets; Tower Hamlets Borough Profile 2024). The houses that are not flats, the Victorian terraces around Bethnal Green, Bow and Globe Town, are often let room by room. This guide covers the gas safety side of a house in multiple occupation, or HMO.

The basic duty is the same

The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 do not have a separate HMO regime. Regulation 36 applies: every gas appliance and flue the landlord provides must be checked every 12 months by a Gas Safe registered engineer, current tenants get a copy within 28 days, new tenants get a copy before they move in, and records are kept for at least two years (HSE).

What is different in an HMO is the number of people, the number of rooms, and how the house has been changed over the years.

What the check must cover in a shared house

Item	Covered by landlord check?	Note
Boiler in shared kitchen or cupboard	Yes	Must be maintained and checked
Communal boiler serving several flats	Yes	May need the building owner involved
Gas hob or cooker provided	Yes	Checked for burning and ventilation
Gas fire in a lounge or bedroom	Yes	Extra bedroom rules apply
Tenant’s own portable gas heater	No	Tenant’s duty, but HSE says landlord should know about it
Installation pipework	Maintain it, yes	HSE recommends a soundness test at the check
Flue passing through with no appliance	Maintain it	No annual check needed

Source: HSE, what needs a check and HSE, appliances and flues.

The bedroom rule for converted rooms

This is the one that catches HMO landlords out. Many Victorian houses in Bethnal Green had a gas fire in the front room. When the house becomes a shared let, that front room often becomes a bedroom.

HSE says that since 31 October 1998, any room converted to use as sleeping accommodation should not contain:

• a gas fire, space heater or water heater (including a boiler) over 14 kilowatts gross input, unless it is room sealed
• a gas fire, space heater or water heater of 14 kilowatts or less, or any instantaneous water heater, unless it is room sealed or has an atmosphere sensing device

Room sealed means the appliance takes its air from outside and sends its fumes outside through a sealed flue. An atmosphere sensing device shuts the gas off if the air in the room goes bad.

If a room had such an appliance and was already a bedroom before 1998, HSE says you need a risk assessment to decide whether it can stay a bedroom. In practice, many landlords choose to remove old fires from rooms used for sleeping. Our gas fire servicing and removal page explains how removal and capping work.

Communal boilers and flats above shops

Some HMOs in Whitechapel and along Roman Road are flats above shops, heated by one boiler that serves more than one dwelling. HSE says where a communal appliance is used by several dwellings, the landlord must make sure it is maintained by a Gas Safe registered engineer and included in the annual check. If the landlord does not own the building, that means working with whoever does.

The same applies to a communal flue serving several flats.

Tenant owned appliances

Some tenants bring their own gas heaters, especially in older houses that feel cold. HSE says the tenant is responsible for checking their own appliance and any flue that serves only it. The landlord is still responsible for the pipework it connects to. HSE recommends that the landlord’s check includes all flues connected to gas appliances, even ones serving tenant appliances.

If a previous tenant left an appliance behind, you must either remove it or have it checked, and make clear who owns it before you let the room again.

Displaying the record

For shared houses, HSE allows a legible copy of the record to be displayed in a prominent place, such as the kitchen notice board. The record should say that any tenant can ask for their own copy and where to get it. You must also tell each new tenant, at the start of their tenancy, where the notice is.

Because HMO rooms turn over often, many landlords also email each new tenant the record before they move in. HSE confirms electronic copies are fine if the tenant is happy with that.

Licensing in east London

Several east London councils run property licensing schemes, including Newham and Waltham Forest, and Schedule 4 of the Housing Act 2004 makes it a condition of every HMO and selective licence that the holder produces a gas safety certificate to the council each year. In Waltham Forest, homes let to three or more unrelated people need an HMO licence (Waltham Forest Council). Check the rules with your own council. Our post on property licensing in Newham and Waltham Forest covers how the record fits in.

Carbon monoxide alarms

Since 1 October 2022, rented homes in England must have a carbon monoxide alarm in any room used as living accommodation that contains a fixed combustion appliance, apart from gas cookers (GOV.UK). In an HMO that often means the boiler cupboard room and any bedroom or lounge with a gas fire. See carbon monoxide alarms for more.

Getting the visit right

An HMO check works best when every room can be reached at one visit. Tell tenants in writing, give a time window, and keep a copy of each notice. Ask the engineer to test the whole installation for soundness and note any room sealed or open flued appliances by room.

London Gas Engineers carries out landlord gas safety certificates for shared houses in Bethnal Green, Bow and Whitechapel and across north and east London. Whoever you book, ask to see their Gas Safe ID card and check it lists every appliance type in the house.