HHSRS hazard checklist: all 21 hazards (England, 2026)

What is the HHSRS?

The Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) is the risk-based method used in England to assess hazards to health and safety in homes. It comes from Part 1 of the Housing Act 2004 and is set out in the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (England) Regulations 2005. It applies to every kind of home, rented or owned, and councils use it when they decide whether to take enforcement action.

The HHSRS is a risk assessment, not a list of minimum standards. It asks how likely a deficiency in the home is to cause harm over the next 12 months, and how serious that harm would be, and turns the answer into a score for each hazard.

What changed in June 2026?

The Housing Health and Safety Rating System (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 came into force on 23 June 2026, alongside new operating guidance, enforcement guidance, a landlord and agent guide and new case studies. For council inspections, the amended method applies to inspections that began on or after 23 June 2026. The main changes are:

• the number of hazards fell from 29 to 21, by combining hazards that are statistically similar in likelihood and harm;
• the ten bands A to J were replaced by three: High, Medium and Low;
• the classes of harm were renamed from Class I to IV to Extreme, Severe, Serious and Moderate;
• the likelihood scale points were grouped under four descriptions, from very unlikely to very likely;
• baseline indicators were introduced, as a checklist of reasonable standards that helps identify deficiencies;
• new case studies replaced the old worked examples.

The Category 1 threshold did not change: a score of 1,000 or more. The 2026 changes apply to England only. Wales has its own Housing Health and Safety Rating System (Wales) Regulations 2006, so check which rules apply before you rely on an older 29-hazard checklist.

The 21 HHSRS hazards and the 29 they replaced

Five groups of old hazards were merged. Everything else carried across, although some descriptions were broadened, for example fire now includes associated fumes, and structural collapse and explosions are no longer limited to the dwelling itself. Use this table to read older reports that use the 29-hazard numbering.

How HHSRS scoring works

An HHSRS score combines the likelihood of harm with the spread of possible outcomes. The operating guidance sets out the process; in outline:

1. Inspect the whole dwelling, including grounds, outbuildings and common parts the occupier uses, and note every deficiency: anything below the ideal or below a baseline indicator.
2. Allocate each deficiency to one or more hazards. One defect can feed several: a leaking roof adds to damp and mould growth and, by soaking the loft insulation, to excess cold.
3. Judge the likelihood of a harmful event that would need medical attention in the next 12 months, for someone in the age group most vulnerable to that hazard. The national average for a property of the same age and type is the reference point. The scale runs from less than 1 in 5,000 to 1 in 1.
4. Judge the spread of harm across four classes, adding up to 100%: extreme (for example death or lung cancer), severe (for example asthma or a serious fracture), serious (for example sleep disturbance or chronic severe stress) and moderate (for example a broken finger or regular serious coughs and colds).
5. Calculate the score. Each class has a fixed weighting (10,000 for extreme, 1,000 for severe, 300 for serious and 10 for moderate). The weighting is multiplied by the likelihood and by that class’s percentage, and the four results are added together.
6. Band the score: Low under 100, Medium 100 to 999, High 1,000 or more. High is Category 1; Medium and Low are Category 2.

The operating guidance gives a worked example. With a likelihood of 1 in 20 and a spread of 5% extreme, 10% severe, 20% serious and 65% moderate, the parts are 2,500, 500, 300 and 32.5, giving a score of about 3,333: High band, Category 1. Each hazard is scored separately, so one home can have Category 1 and Category 2 hazards at the same time.

Category 1 and Category 2 hazards: what happens next

A council that finds a Category 1 hazard has a duty to take enforcement action. For Category 2 hazards it has a power to act but no duty. The options include a hazard awareness notice, an improvement notice, a prohibition order, emergency remedial action, an emergency prohibition order, a demolition order and a clearance area declaration.

Failing to comply with an improvement notice or prohibition order is a criminal offence. The landlord and agent guide says councils can impose a civil penalty of up to £40,000 for failing to comply with an improvement notice, for offences committed on or after 1 May 2026. Recipients can appeal most notices and orders to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) within strict time limits.

Who uses the HHSRS?

• Councils, usually through environmental health officers, to decide on enforcement under the Housing Act 2004. A council cannot take enforcement action against itself as a landlord.
• Social landlords, because the Decent Homes Standard requires social homes to be free of Category 1 hazards.
• Private landlords and letting agents, who must keep homes free of Category 1 hazards; HHSRS hazards also count when a court decides whether a home is fit for human habitation.
• Surveyors and housing officers, in stock condition surveys, pre-let checks, disrepair reports and complaint investigations.
• Government, which measures hazards across England’s homes through the English Housing Survey.

The operating guidance says full assessments involving scoring should only be carried out by people trained in the HHSRS. Anyone can use the baseline indicators, which the landlord and agent guide sets out as a self-assessment checklist, to spot deficiencies and decide whether a trained assessor is needed.

HHSRS and Awaab’s Law

Awaab’s Law sets fixed timescales for social landlords in England, and it will ultimately cover all the HHSRS hazard types apart from overcrowding. Phase 1 covers all emergency hazards and significant damp and mould hazards. Phase 2, due on 30 November 2026, adds excess cold, excess heat, falls, structural collapse, fire and explosions, electrical hazards and domestic hygiene.

Awaab’s Law does not need an HHSRS score. It looks at the household actually living in the home rather than the most vulnerable age group, so a hazard that would be Category 2 can still demand action within days. Use our Awaab’s Law checklist for the timescales, and the damp and mould inspection checklist when damp and mould growth is the hazard.

Scoring the HHSRS in an app

PropertySurvey Pro includes an HHSRS assessment for all 21 hazard profiles of the 2026 system. You choose the hazard, enter your likelihood and spread of harm, and the app applies the published formula, band and category, with photos linked to the rooms. DampApp Pro offers the same HHSRS scoring inside a damp and timber survey. In both, the surveyor makes every judgement; the app does the arithmetic and lays out the report.

Official sources

• Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) guidance collection (GOV.UK)
• HHSRS operating guidance, Parts 1 to 3 (GOV.UK)
• HHSRS landlord and agent guide, including the baseline indicators checklist (GOV.UK)
• HHSRS enforcement guidance (GOV.UK)
• HHSRS tenant guide (GOV.UK)
• The Housing Health and Safety Rating System (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 (legislation.gov.uk)