A concerning new report has revealed that hundreds of thousands of properties are at risk of a life-threatening gas incident. These could be linked to features such as a carbon monoxide leak, or failures with boilers, fires, radiators and cookers.
CORGI HomePlan, who carried out the survey, feel that many investors are failing to carry out potentially life-saving checks before buying property.
Concerns
The study found that only 10% of property purchasers considered it necessary to check the safety of a property before completing a purchase. 28% thought a full check was covered in the mortgage lenders’ survey.
Most commonly, new property owners overlook the working condition of their boiler, with 39% net getting a qualified engineer in to test it.
Worryingly, 70% of new property owners questioned said they did not know that new homebuyers can request a service record of all gas appliances-including boilers, central heating, cookers and fires.
Wales was found to be the safest area, with eight in ten respondents having a Gas Safe Registered engineer to assess their property before buying. On the other hand, Londoners were found to be least safety conscious, with just 38% of people in the capital following suit.
Many property investors failing to conduct gas safety checks
Reports
Kevin Treanor, director of CORGI HomePlan, said: ‘Buying a new home is an exciting time and one that often involves committing yourself to the limit of your finances. However, just as you wouldn’t commit to buy a property without seeing the surveyor’s report first, it is just as important that homebuyers also see the full service record of all gas appliances and have a Gas Safe registered engineer inspect the home too.’[1]
‘Carbon monoxide still kills around 50 people a year and every one of these deaths is avoidable. People must minimise the risks by making sure all their gas appliances are in full working order,’ Mr Treanor added.[2]
[1] https://www.propertyinvestortoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2016/11/lack-of-safety-checks-being-carried-out-by-property-investors