Gas leak in a rented home: your rights and what to do

A gas leak is a serious safety emergency. Smell gas, or think a leak exists in your rented home? Act at once. Here is what to do in an emergency, what the landlord's legal duties are, and what to do where those duties went unmet.

Key facts

• The 2024 to 2025 English Housing Survey found about 9% of homes in England, around 2.3 million, had a category 1 (most serious) hazard under the HHSRS. In the private rented sector the figure was 10%. English Housing Survey 2024-25, GOV.UK
• The same survey found about 15% of homes in England, around 4.0 million, did not meet the Decent Homes Standard. In the private rented sector the figure was 22%. English Housing Survey 2024-25, GOV.UK

What to do if you smell gas or suspect a leak

This is an emergency. Act at once:

1. Do not turn any electrical switches on or off
2. Do not use your phone inside the property
3. Open windows and doors to ventilate the property
4. Turn off the gas at the meter if you know where it is and can do so safely
5. Leave the property immediately
6. Call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999: free, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
7. Do not go back inside until told it is safe

Call your landlord only after the gas emergency service has dealt with the danger.

What are your landlord's legal duties regarding gas safety?

Private landlords carry strict legal duties under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. These make a landlord:

• Keep every gas appliance, fitting, and flue they provided in safe condition
• Arrange a gas safety check by a Gas Safe registered engineer every 12 months
• Give tenants the current gas safety certificate, the Gas Safety Record, within 28 days of the check, or before move-in where the check was recent
• Keep records of the checks for at least two years

Skipping the yearly gas safety check is a criminal offence.

What if my landlord has not given me a gas safety certificate?

Ask your landlord for the most recent gas safety certificate. A refusal, or an admission that no check happened, is a serious breach of their legal duty.

You can report the landlord to the Health and Safety Executive, the HSE, which enforces the gas rules. The council's environmental health team can inspect too.

Unchecked gas appliances plus harm suffered, carbon monoxide poisoning for example, may add up to a claim.

What if a gas appliance is broken or faulty?

A faulty gas appliance is a repair issue as well as a safety one. Think a dead boiler, a hob with a broken burner, a fire that will not light. The landlord must repair gas appliances they provided with the home, a duty from the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985.

Report the fault in writing and keep a copy. A slow response is not acceptable: a gas appliance fault counts as an urgent repair.

What if there has been a gas leak and my landlord is now ignoring me?

A landlord who sat on a known gas safety issue, a leak, a faulty appliance, or missing yearly checks, may face a housing disrepair claim. It runs serious because gas failures can kill.

Beside a civil claim, you can report the landlord to the Health and Safety Executive and the council's housing enforcement team.

When should I contact Support for Tenants?

Did the landlord fail to keep gas appliances safe, withhold the gas certificate, or sit on a reported fault? Call us.

Call us on 0800 030 4669. No upfront cost. You only pay if you win, and the fee comes out of the compensation, not your pocket. If you don't win, you pay nothing.

Sources

• Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 (legislation.gov.uk)
• Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, Section 11 (legislation.gov.uk)
• Awaab's Law: guidance for social landlords (GOV.UK)