Gas and Electrical Safety Checks

Dear Member,

Please find below the official response from AWAY on the subject of certifications.  They have confirmed the response is applicable to both gas and electrical certifications. (You may recall that Away Resorts demanded gas and electrical certificates from all owners)

AWAY have decided that certificates are not required from non-renting leaseholders.

Having gained this clarification the FBOA now encourages all renting owners to provide copies of their certificates to AWAY as previously requested by them.    Please do NOT contact the FBOA about specific queries or send copies of certificates to the FBOA – members should send these certificates in line with the original request from Victoria Campbell. 

Dear Peter,

Thank you for your recent correspondence and for raising the concerns on behalf of the Filey Bay Owner Association regarding gas (and 5 year electrical) safety checks for leaseholders, particularly those who do not sublet their properties.

We have reviewed the position carefully in light of both the general law and the terms of the lease. We set out below our position moving forward.

1. Statutory Obligations

As you are aware, under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, landlords of residential premises with leases of less than seven years are legally required to arrange annual gas safety checks. However, the leases granted at The Bay Filey are for a term of 999 years. As such, the statutory obligation does not apply to the Company in respect of these leases.

That said, leaseholders who choose to sublet their properties do become landlords in their own right for the duration of the sublet. In those circumstances, the statutory duty does apply to them, and we expect all subletting leaseholders to comply fully with the requirement to obtain an annual Gas Safety Certificate (and 5 year electrical certificate)

We would remind owners that Schedule 4, Paragraph 6 of the lease requires compliance with all statutory requirements, which provides the Company with the means to enforce this obligation where a property is being sublet.

2. Non-Subletting Leaseholders

For those owners who do not sublet, there is no statutory requirement to undertake an annual gas safety inspection. However, the Company has a duty to ensure that the park remains a safe environment for all residents and visitors and to comply with its own insurance obligations.

To this end, we refer to the following lease provisions:

• Schedule 4, Paragraph 13: Requires the tenant to keep the premises in good and substantial repair, order, and condition.
• Schedule 4, Paragraph 15: Grants the Company rights of inspection and the ability to require necessary works where appropriate.
• Schedule 4, Paragraph 16: Prohibits leaseholders from taking any action that would invalidate or increase the premium of the park’s insurance.

The park’s insurance policy includes a clause requiring that reasonable steps be taken to prevent accidents and to keep properties in good repair. In our view, periodic gas safety checks (and 5 year electrical certificates) are a reasonable precaution, and we therefore encourage all leaseholders—whether subletting or not—to arrange such inspections at appropriate intervals.

While we do not intend to enforce an annual gas safety check for non-subletting leaseholders at this time, we reserve the right to request evidence of system safety where concerns arise (e.g., following an inspection or complaint), or where it is deemed necessary to satisfy our insurance obligations.

For clarity, owners remain free to choose their own Gas Safe registered engineer and are under no obligation to use any service arranged by the Company.

3. Moving Forward

We are committed to working collaboratively with the Filey Bay Owner Association to maintain the highest safety standards at the Resort.  We trust this position strikes a fair balance between respecting the terms of the lease, meeting legal obligations, and protecting the wider interests of the resort and its holiday home owners.