Has your Gas Safety Certificate been signed?

In the recent County Court Case of Barakzai & Barakzai v Fenech & Fenech 2024, District Judge Jenkins found in favour of the tenant, and ordered that possession was to be dismissed on the basis that the landlord had failed to comply with the prescribed requirement under s.21A Housing Act 1988 due to the fact that the Gas Safety Certificates (GSCs) were unsigned by the engineer.

Facts of the case

The Fenechs (the tenants) had occupied the property since 2014 and had successive tenancies thereafter with the Barakzais.

The landlord had GSCs carried out between 2013 to 2017. The GSCs contained the printed name of the specific engineer who carried out the check and their professional registration number. However, the engineer had failed to personally sign each GSC. It also came to light that the GSC carried out in 2016 did not contain the landlord’s address and names and at least one of the GSC had been carried out more than 12 months after the previous GSC had been done.

The Fenech’s argued the landlord was not entitled to possession under s.21 Housing Act 1988 because:

1. Each GSC required the name and signature of the engineer;
2. The GSC in 2016 that did not have the landlord’s name and address meant that the s.21 Notice was invalid; and
3. That each GSC had to have been carried out within 12 months of the previous one.

The law

1. The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 Reg 36(3)(c)(viii) requires “the name and signature of the individual carrying out the check”. Therefore, the tenants were correct to raise this point.

2. In relation to whether a landlord must ensure a GSC is carried out within 12 months of the previous one, this does not fall within the prescribed requirement under s.21A Housing Act 29188 as established in the case of Trecarrell House Ltd v Rouncefield 2020. The tenants did not succeed on this point as this is not a requirement for the purposes of s.21 Housing Act 1988.

The outcome

District Judge Jenkins found in favour of the tenants on two out of the three claims and possession was dismissed. The Judge held that where there were missing details and no signature on the GSCs, this did not comply with Reg 36 (3)(c) of the Gas Safety Regulations 1998 which required strict compliance. In relation to whether a GSC had to be carried out within 12 months of the previous one, this was held not to be a prescribed requirement that enabled service of a valid s.21 Notice.

The Birketts view

It will be interesting to see how this issue will be dealt with under the Renters’ Rights Bill, if at all. For more information on the Renters’ Rights Bill, please sign up to mine and Alice Harris webinar on 14 October where we will be delving into the upcoming changes.