Boiler Servicing for Letting Agents: Keeping Portfolios Compliant

One landlord with one flat can keep a gas safety date in their head. A letting agent with forty properties, a dozen landlords and tenants who work shifts cannot. Most gas safety compliance failures are not technical at all: they are a missed date, a tenant who was out, or a certificate that never reached the file.

Why do gas safety dates slip across a portfolio?

Dates slip because each property runs on its own twelve-month clock, and those clocks drift. A check booked early resets the date, a failed access visit pushes it later, and a new instruction arrives with paperwork from a previous agent. Without one central list, a property can quietly run past its expiry.

The usual gaps look like this:

• Properties taken on mid-year with no copy of the last gas safety record.
• Checks booked early to suit the engineer, pulling the anniversary date forward every year.
• Access failures that are never rebooked because nobody owns the follow-up.
• Records issued to the landlord but not to the tenant.
• A replacement boiler or new hob fitted between checks and never added to the appliance list.

When should each gas safety check be booked?

Book each check in the two months before the current record expires. Under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, a check done in that window is treated as if it were carried out on the expiry date, so the property keeps its anniversary. Book earlier than that and the new twelve months start from the day of the check.

For a portfolio, the practical approach is a monthly list of every property expiring in the next eight to ten weeks, booked in batches by area. Grouping jobs geographically also makes it easier for the engineer to offer tighter appointment windows, which in turn improves access rates.

Can the boiler service and gas safety check be done on one visit?

Yes, and for most lets it is the sensible approach. The gas safety check is the legal minimum and covers every gas appliance, flue and the pipework; the boiler service is maintenance on the boiler itself. Booking both at the same appointment means one access request for the tenant and one visit on the file.

They are still two different jobs with two different outcomes, so make sure your paperwork shows both. We explain the distinction in does a boiler service include a gas safety certificate, and the items the check covers are listed in our CP12 checklist.

Many boiler manufacturers also expect an annual service to keep a guarantee valid, so a check without a service can leave a landlord exposed on the cost of a later repair.

What should you do if a tenant will not give access?

Keep trying, and keep a record of every attempt. The landlord's duty is to take all reasonable steps to get the check done, and HSE guidance is that you should be able to show those steps: written notice of the appointment, a second offered date, and notes of calls, emails and letters.

Offer early or late slots where possible and give tenants a named contact. Explain in plain terms that the visit is a safety check, not an inspection of how they live. If access still fails, the written trail is what shows the landlord acted properly. For anything beyond that, the HSE landlord gas safety guidance is the place to start.

What records does a letting agent need to keep?

For each property you need the current gas safety record, proof it went to the tenants, and the history behind it. The regulations require a copy to existing tenants within 28 days of the check and to new tenants before they move in, and each record kept for at least two years.

• The gas safety record itself, listing every appliance and flue checked.
• The date and method it was sent to each tenant.
• The boiler service record, ideally also entered in the Benchmark section of the boiler manual.
• Any warning notices issued, and proof the remedial work was completed.
• Access attempts, with dates and the method of contact.

Store them by property, not by landlord. When a landlord moves agents or sells, the history needs to travel with the building.

How do you keep this running year after year?

Use one master list with the property address, appliances, anniversary date, last service date and landlord contact, and review it on the same day each month. A spreadsheet works if one person owns it; the software matters less than the habit.

May and June are good months to tidy up. Engineers have more availability before the autumn rush, so this is the time to realign dates that have drifted, chase missing records on new instructions and book services on boilers that were only checked last year.

Booking landlord gas safety checks in Stoke-on-Trent

We carry out landlord gas safety certificates and annual services for agents and private landlords, with both jobs on one visit where that suits the property. Records are issued promptly so they can go straight to the tenant.

Our work covers the city and outlying towns, including boiler service in Crewe and boiler service in Stafford. To talk through a batch of properties, call 07896 677083.