Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS)

What is the Housing Health and Safety Rating System?

The Housing Health & Safety Rating System (HHSRS) is the method by which local authority inspectors assess housing conditions in England and Wales.

Introduced in the Housing Act 2004, HHSRS is a risk-based system rather than a set of prescriptive standards that landlords must adhere to. Instead, if a local authority inspects your property they will use HHSRS to identify potential hazards and then use a points-based system to assess their severity. 

If the points-based system reveals a Category 1 hazard the local authority is under an obligation to take action to address it. If the hazard is rated as a Category 2 hazard the local authority may take action instead.

What is the purpose of the HHSRS?

The aim is to provide a method by which local authority inspectors can assess the risks from hazards in a property. Once identified, the local authority may then use their enforcement powers to address the identified hazards.

The key principle of the system is that a dwelling, including the structure and associated outbuildings and garden, yard and/or other amenity space and means of access, should provide a safe and healthy environment for the occupants and, by implication, for any visitors.