HHSRS reforms from 23 June 2026: what England's private landlords need to know

What is changing and from when

SI 2026/571 — the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 — amends the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (England) Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/3208). It is made under sections 2 and 250(2) of the Housing Act 2004 and came into force on 23 June 2026.

The new rules apply to inspections commenced on or after 23 June 2026. Inspections already under way before that date continue under the 2005 Regulations as they stood before amendment (see regulation 10 of SI 2026/571 for the transitional provision).

The changes affect how local housing authorities assess and describe hazards in residential properties in England only. The HHSRS for Wales is devolved and is not affected by this instrument.

The three principal changes

1. Fewer, restructured hazard categories. Schedule 1 of the 2005 Regulations is rewritten. The 29 prescribed hazard descriptions are consolidated to 21. Five new grouped hazard descriptions are inserted — covering indoor air pollutants (para 4A), domestic hygiene (para 14A), falls on the level (para 18A), fire and explosions including building collapse (para 23A), and collisions, entrapment and ergonomics (para 25A). Redundant paragraphs are removed.

2. Three scoring bands replace the A–J scale. The ten-band A-to-J scoring system in Tables 1 and 2 of regulation 6 is replaced with three intuitive bands:

• High — score of 1,000 or above
• Medium — score of 100 or above but below 1,000
• Low — score below 100

3. Harm classes renamed. The four harm classes used in the assessment are renamed: Class I becomes Extreme, Class II becomes Severe, Class III becomes Serious, and Class IV becomes Moderate. These names are intended to communicate risk more clearly to landlords and tenants.

What landlords and property managers should do

Private residential landlords in England are not required to carry out their own HHSRS assessments — the duty to inspect and enforce rests with the local housing authority. However, you should:

• Familiarise yourself with the new terminology. If you receive a notice or report from a local housing authority after 23 June 2026, it will use the new band names (High / Medium / Low) and harm-class names (Extreme / Severe / Serious / Moderate) rather than the old letter grades and Class I–IV labels.
• Understand what a High-band finding means. A High-band result obligates the local housing authority to act — this may include an improvement notice, a prohibition order, or emergency remedial action. You should treat a High-band finding as requiring urgent attention.
• Keep priority hazards in good order. The substantive duty to maintain properties free of serious hazards is unchanged. Damp and mould, excess cold, fire risks, and falls remain among the most commonly identified High-band hazards. Addressing these proactively reduces the risk of enforcement action.
• Check the revised hazard groupings. If your property has been assessed under the old 29-hazard framework, note that several hazards have been consolidated. The new groupings cover indoor air pollutants, domestic hygiene, falls on the level, fire and explosions, and collisions and entrapment — areas that were previously assessed separately.