Why Gas Safety Week matters for letting agents
Gas Safety Week 2021 has been a reminder of the importance of safety and compliance in rented homes. But how should agents manage gas safety beyond the awareness week?
Gas safety: not just for engineers and homeowners
With 4.4million privately rented households in England alone, landlords and letting agents are a big part of keeping the UK gas-safe.
And this includes protecting against carbon monoxide poisoning. It still affects over a thousand people each year and can be fatal.
This year, there’s been an extra focus on getting businesses involved too. So, estate and letting agents can win big if they pledge their support to the initiative.
As well as raising awareness and keeping your customers safe, supporting the cause is a great way to push your brand’s social responsibility.
You can download free gas safety materials and push these out to landlords and applicants as part of your regular customer comms.
Your gas safety responsibilities as letting agents
If you run or work for a lettings agency you’ll already know the importance of gas safety.
Landlords must make sure gas fixtures and fittings are safe, under Gas Safety Regulations. This includes the need for an annual gas safety check by a registered engineer.
The Health & Safety Executive has a good online resource, reminding you what to do if you or your landlords need a refresher.
Records of gas safety checks must be kept for two years. Once again, that shows how key good record-keeping is in the management of properties.
Cloud-based software and gas safety for letting agents
Alto’s cloud-based software gives you a solution, with a central place to store maintenance and compliance requests. Plus, you get 24/7 access anywhere, anytime.
Lettings and property management teams can store all information relating to a property in Alto. That includes everything from the tenancy agreement, to records of repairs and annual safety checks.
And all of this is accessed from Alto’s user-friendly dashboards.
Secure documents
With Alto, you don’t have to worry about document security. With everything stored safely in the cloud, there’s no risk of losing paper-based records and no issues if your server or hardware fails.
We also offer a landlord portal, giving landlords safe and secure access to information and records relating to their property and tenancy.
Gas Safety Week does a fantastic job of raising awareness of gas safety and reminding everyone of their responsibilities. In reminding landlords and managing agents of their responsibilities, it’s also a good reminder of record-keeping best practice too.
Want to see the benefits of Alto’s cloud-based software for yourself? Click here for a free demo.
