The Housing Health and Safety Rating System (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 come into force on 23 June 2026, reducing the number of assessed hazards from 29 to 21 and introducing a simplified scoring system with new baseline indicators. The changes affect how local authorities inspect and enforce housing standards in the PRS, with High hazards broadly replacing the previous Category 1 bands.
What is changing and when. The Housing Health and Safety Rating System method of assessing hazards in housing is to be simplified from 23 June 2026, with the number of hazards reducing from 29 to 21, and the introduction of a new scoring system and baseline indicators.
The HHSRS has been in place since 2006 and has not been fully updated since it was introduced; it was often seen as complex, resource-intensive and difficult to understand. The 2026 changes are designed to make assessments clearer, simpler and more consistent, and to help local authorities enforce housing standards more effectively.
New hazard categories. High hazards will broadly replace the previous Category 1 bands, while Medium and Low hazards will sit within Category 2. This should make it easier for agents, landlords and tenants to understand the seriousness of a hazard.
The revised HHSRS follows an extensive review designed to "bring it up to date, empower landlords and tenants to engage with the system, ensure alignment with other legislative standards and systems, including the Building Safety Act, and help with the effective enforcement of housing standards."
Linked civil penalty powers. Paragraph 6 of Schedule 4 of the Renters' Rights Act inserts a new Section 6A into the Housing Act 2004 which, once in force, will enable the local authority to impose a civil penalty of up to ?7,000 where the council has taken enforcement action in respect of a Category 1 hazard, and in the opinion of the council it would have been reasonably practicable for the responsible person to secure the removal of the hazard.
The Implementation Roadmap states that the commencement of these new penalties for Category 1 hazards is due in the "Spring/Summer" of 2026. Landlords should therefore treat the HHSRS amendment date of 23 June 2026 as a prompt to audit property conditions against the new 21-hazard framework without delay.
Enforcement context. Civil penalties guidance uses careful "up to" wording: a breach may carry a penalty of up to ?7,000, while an offence may carry a civil penalty of up to ?40,000. Failure to comply with an Improvement Notice is one of the Housing Act 2004 offences that should be treated as a serious escalation point.
There is also a rent repayment order risk where a landlord commits certain housing-related offences, and GOV.UK guidance lists failure to comply with an Improvement Notice as an offence that can support a rent repayment order.
Action required
Review the amended HHSRS hazard list before 23 June 2026. Assess whether any properties have conditions that may be reclassified as High hazards under the new framework. Note that the RRA Schedule 4 new Category 1 civil penalty power (up to ?7,000) is expected to commence in spring/summer 2026 in conjunction with these changes.
Effective
2026-06-23
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