Gas Safety Certificates and the validity of Section 21 notices

The life of Section 21 notices may be coming once the Renters Rights Bill is enacted, but for now, the issue of gas safety certificates and the validity of Section 21 notices remains a pressing issue.

In the recent County Court case of Barakzai & Barakzai v Fenech & Fenech 2024, District Judge Jenkins ruled in favour of the tenant, ordering that possession be dismissed. This decision was based on the landlord's failure to meet the requirements outlined in Section 21A of the Housing Act 1988, specifically because the Gas Safety Certificates (GSCs) were not signed by the engineer.

Facts

The tenants, Fenech and Fenech were granted an assured shorthold tenancy agreement by the Barakzais in 2014.

The Barakzais served a section 21 notice and brought possession proceedings. The case then went to trial, but questions were raised over the validity of the GSCs. Between the years 2013 and 2017 the certificates contained the printed name of the engineer as well as their registration number, but no separate signature.

From 2018 onwards the gas safety inspections were conducted by British Gas. This time the forms contained the engineers name in print but no separate signature. It was also discovered that a GSC from 2016 did not include the landlords name and address and at least one certificate was dated over 12 months after the previous one.

The Fenech’s argued:

1.????? The GSCs were not signed contrary to Regulation 36 (3) (c) of The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998

2.????? The GSC from 2016 was invalid because it did not include the landlord’s name and address which meant that the s.21 Notice was invalid

3.????? It is a requirement for the gas safety inspection to be carried out within 12 months of the previous one.

The landlord argued that the GSCs were signed, and that it was usual practice for British Gas to fill them in in this way, but did not provide evidence to this effect.

Law

According to Regulation 36(3)(c) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, "the name and signature of the individual carrying out the check" are required. Therefore, the tenants were justified in raising this point.

The Landlord relied on?Lowe v Governors of Sutton’s Hospital in Charterhouse?(2024)? and?Northwood (Solihull) Ltd v Fearn (2022) and argued it did not matter whether the GSCs were signed as the gas engineer had been identified and so the statutory point was met.

They also referred to s.21A of the Housing Act 1988 and Trecarrell House Ltd v Rouncefield ?(2020) to argue that it is not part of the prescribed requirement under s.21A of the Housing Act 1988 that a landlord must carry out a check within 12 months of the last and give the tenant a record of that check.

Judgment

District Judge Jenkins found in favour of the tenants on two of the three claims and found that none of the GSCs were signed. The possession was therefore dismissed.

Further to this, the Judge held the purpose of a signature under Regulation 36 (3) (c) is to do more than just identify the engineer, the signature needs to show that the engineer has authenticated the record. Strict compliance with this regulation was needed for the GSC to be valid.

As a result, the landlord did not meet the requirements outlined in section 21A of the Housing Act 1988, rendering the section 21 notice invalid.

On serving a GSC within 12 months of the last one, this was not held to be a requirement to enable service of a valid s.21 Notice. The judge referred to Patten LJ's comments in Trecarrell. Therefore, tenants did not succeed on this point.

Conclusion

This case emphasises that a signature serves as an attestation of accuracy, rather than just an identification of the engineer. To establish a valid GSC landlords must exercise due diligence to ensure the record is compliant with Regulation 36 (3) (c) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use Regulations 1998).

Looking to the future, it will be interesting to see if, and how, this issue will be addressed under the Renters' Rights Bill.