Safety Assessment

Making sure your home is safe and healthy is really important for you and your family. One way to do this is by getting your home assessed through the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). This action plan will help you understand why it's important to get your home assessed and how to do it without spending money.

Why not start with the incredible Healthy Homes Checklist from Doncaster Council

Healthy Homes Checklist   Healthy Homes Checklist 

 

OR The Home Safety Checklist from Bernslai Homes - Barnsley

Home Safety checklistHome Safety checklist

 

Keeping You Safe

Getting your home assessed helps find any things that could be dangerous to your health and safety. They look at things like fire risks, dampness, extreme hot or cold, and other things that could be harmful.

What the Law Says

Landlords have to make sure the homes they rent are safe to live in. By asking for an assessment, you can make sure your landlord is doing what they're supposed to and fixing any problems that are found.

Protecting People Who Need Extra Help

If you or someone in your family needs extra help, like kids or older people, it's even more important to get your home assessed. Fixing problems quickly can stop accidents, injuries, and health issues that might affect them more.

Feeling Safe and Happy

Knowing that your home has been checked and any problems have been fixed can help you feel safe and happy. You can live in a place where you don't have to worry about getting hurt or getting sick.
 

How much does it cost?

It's Free

Asking for a home assessment under the HHSRS doesn't cost anything. Someone from the council will come and check your home, and you don't have to pay them.

Council Tenants

Graphic of the map of Barnsley    Graphic of the map of Doncaster    Graphic of the map of rotherham    Graphic of the map of Sheffield

Barnsley         Doncaster        Rotherham     Sheffield

Private Tenants

Graphic of the map of Barnsley    Graphic of the map of Doncaster    Graphic of the map of rotherham    Graphic of the map of Sheffield

Barnsley          Doncaster     Rotherham        Sheffield

Extra Reports

Sometimes, the person checking your home might need more information to figure out what's wrong. If that happens, there might be some extra costs for special reports. But the first check itself doesn't cost anything.

Costs for Landlords

If the assessment finds serious problems and your landlord doesn't fix them, the council might make your landlord pay for the repairs. But as a tenant, you don't have to pay for these costs.

What happens

Once you ask for a home assessment through the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS), these are the steps that usually happen:

1. Contacting the Council:
Get in touch with the council's private rented housing team and ask them to check your home.

2. Inspection Arrangement:
The council will send someone called an environmental health officer to look at your home. You need to be there or have someone let them in.

3. Looking Around:
The officer will walk through your home and look for anything that could be dangerous to your health and safety. They might not know the exact cause of the problems right away and might need more information.

4. Checking the Hazards:
The officer will decide how risky the problems are and how much harm they could cause. They'll also think about any extra risks for kids or older people.

5. Sorting the Hazards:
The problems in your home will be put into two categories: "category 1" or "category 2."
Category 1 problems are more serious and need to be fixed right away.
Category 2 problems might be fixed by the council if they decide to.

Remember, the timeline might be different depending on your situation and what the council and your landlord do.