Of these 29 Hazards, you have to identify deficiencies in each area, then assess the likelihood of something happening and the potential serverity of the event. You then need to determine any remedial work that needs to be undertaken and assign responsiblity and timescale to ensure that these deficiencies are tackled to reduce the risks to a reasonably practical level.
With all of this, it is very easy to ask yourself why you even got involved with investing in and managing property at all, as all this additional time effort and resource feels like it is doing nothing but dwindling your every decreasing investment returns. This is particularly an amplified issue for smaller property investors and landlords, who find it more challenging due to having a smaller portfolio to carry the financial burden of getting the property to a practical level of health and safety compliance.
The purpose of this blog post is to show that the whole risk assessment approach doesn't have to be massively complex or time consuming, and also is a way to protect your investment and income over the longer term, assuming that you are in it for the longer term.
As a former educator, I have spent lots of time assessing the quality of teaching, and regardless of whatever evidence from observations and feedback I have gathered over the years, there is a very simple acid test that gave me a really good yardstick to apply. It was simply this. Would I really want this individual to be the teacher of my child? If the gut response was "no" then this would set off alarm bells that would need me to dig deeper. Without exception, there was always evidence to be found that corners were being cut, progress was limited and there was little enjoyment in learning for the kids.
As an investor myself, I use the same acid test when I am looking at property either from a refurbishment point of view, or as a legionella risk assessor. Would I be happy with my child living at this property? If the gut feeling is no, then there is probable a very good reason for it. There is a strong likelihood that there is something about the property which would put my child at risk somehow. And this is why the the HHSRR system exists - to ensure that people have a decent quality of environment in which to live in, without any unnecessary risk to their health - and not to impose an additional layer of beaurocracy which further eats into your profits.
The upside of taking a risk management approach is that your property will generally end up being a better quality investment, as tenants will tend to be happier as you are a pro-active manager of your property, which will, in theory at least, result in longer tenancies and fewer void periods, both of which will go a long way to securing and stabalising your investment.
Underlying principles
To carry out a risk assessment there are basically 4 components. The first is to identify potential hazards. The good news is that the HHSRR has taken the leg work out of this and actually identifies the potential hazards for you.
The second component is make a general determination as to the likelihood of a specific hazard to result in an incident that will impact on the health and safety of an affected individual. This will be your tenant in the first instance, however, it could also extend to visitors to the property including any trades that you may need to send to the property from time to time to carry out maintenance work.
The third component is to determine the potential impact or consequences if an incident was to happen. Would the impact be a minor convenience, or could it result in something more serious, such as the contraction of a disease, or a slip or fall that may lead to much longer health and mobility problems for the individual concerned.
The final component is then to determine whether there is anything that can be done to reduce either the likelihood or the impact of an incident, and ideally both, and then to plan in these actions so that the desired effect is achieved.
There is no such thing as "Risk Free"
In reality, just in a state of existing, we are exposed to risk every single day of our lives. If we are just sitting down, there is a risk that when we get up, we pull a muscle or something. We cannot possibly mitigate every risk and the good news is that as a responsible property investor, landlord, or managing agent, you don't have to. You just need to ensure that you have at the very least carried out a sufficient risk assessment to ensure that your tenants are safe and there is nothing that you have done that will potentially harm their health.
People Who Might Be Affected
Certain tenants may be more at risk than others. This is simply the nature of the world we live in. Elderly tenants may be more at risk in the cold winter months if the heating is not working, Asthmatic tenants may be at risk if there is a damp problem and young children may be at greater risk if there is a vermin investation. Typically, though, a well maintained property will pose very little risk to anyone, however, if you are having a new tenant moving in, it is always worth knowing a little bit about them so that you have the piece of mind that you need.
What Are You Reasonably Doing to Reduce the Risk?
The key work here is "Reasonably". If a building is structurally unsound, the most reasonable course of action would be not to rent it out until the structural issues have been resolved. Seems like common sense, however there are other areas that are not so black and white. What about mould and damp, what are reasonable steps to take with that? Let's say that you have a property where the tenants has reported mould. You have it checked out and find out that the mould has been caused by the tenant constantly drying their clothes in the house, but then never opening the windows to let fresh air ciculate.
The most reasonable thing to do would be to educate the tenant that they need to ventilate by opening a window when they are drying their clothes, and also to treat the mould. It would not be reasonable to continually pay to have the mould treated every time the tenant reported it, if the actions of the tenant themselves was the cause of the issue. Unfortunately not all tenants exercise this level of common sense and in the event of a significant incident, you will need to be able to demonstrate that you have taken reasonable actions to rectify and deal with the issues. This is where good record keeping and property management will be worth their weight in gold.
If you are still not confident enough to carry out your own risk assessment, then you can get a professional in to carry this out for you. Any credible professional will understand the legal requirements, will carry appropriate indemnity insurance and will ensure that you have the documentary evidence that you need to prove that you have carried out your duties.
However, if you call them after the event, don't be surprised if they are not particularly receptive to assisting you.
No comments:
Post a Comment