![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.castle-estates.co.uk\/staffordshire\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2012\/02\/good-advice.jpg\" "\\"good")
<\/a><\/p>\nTodays post by Mike Edwards, represents information that the Castle Estates group <\/a>have been posting for many yeras, but just never changes. Giveing truth to the old\u00a0adage, you just cant beat good advice!<\/p>\n Many landlords are still blissfully unaware of even basic health and safety rules when leaving their properties for rental, according to The Association of Independent Inventory Clerks (AIIC). For example, one in ten rented properties have items such as soft furnishings, bedding and furniture that do not have the required fire & furnishing compliance labels and have to be removed. What\u2019s more, AIIC members are still finding the dubious \u2013 and illegal \u2013 practice of landlords \u2018selling\u2019 odd items of furniture, without fire & furnishing compliance labels, to incoming tenants.<\/p>\n \u00a0It is also of course illegal to let the tenants happen to \u2018find\u2019 an ideal piece of furniture outside the back door and for the Landlord to offer to \u2018hire\u2019 the furniture for a peppercorn rent.\u00a0Pat Barber, of \u00a0The AIIC, comments, \u201cA recent tenant told us \u2013 \u2018I bought the sofa for \u00a31, it’s really old and tatty, but a great bargain.\u2019 When we pointed out that he would have to take it with him or dispose of it at his own cost when he moved out he was not quite so excited.\u201d But more to the point what the Landlord had done, to circumvent the regulations, was totally illegal and an offence punishable by at least a fine and heaven forbid had there been an injury or fatality that involved the illegal sofa,\u00a0 a custodial sentence.<\/p>\n We ourselves see time and time again, properties with fire hazards such as gas cylinders and chemicals stored incorrectly by the landlord. There was such a case a few years ago where a discarded cigarette end ignited petrol being stored at the rear of the property fortunately in this case by the tenant.\u00a0All landlords must ensure that all the soft furnishing, bedding and furniture is fire retardant with the correct labels and that hazardous materials are not stored in the property or garage. The motto must be \u201cIf in doubt, throw it out”<\/p>\n AIIC has identified the top 10 most common health and safety issues found in rented properties:<\/p>\n \u2022 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Non-compliant furniture, bedding and soft furnishings\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong> By Mike Edwards. Todays post by Mike Edwards, represents information that the Castle Estates group have been posting for many yeras, but just never changes. Giveing truth to the old\u00a0adage, you just cant beat good advice! Many landlords are still blissfully unaware of even basic health and safety rules when leaving their properties for rental, …<\/span> Read More →<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[55],"tags":[7,24,67,37,72],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.castle-estates.co.uk\/staffordshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1089"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.castle-estates.co.uk\/staffordshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.castle-estates.co.uk\/staffordshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.castle-estates.co.uk\/staffordshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.castle-estates.co.uk\/staffordshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1089"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.castle-estates.co.uk\/staffordshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1089\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1684,"href":"https:\/\/blog.castle-estates.co.uk\/staffordshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1089\/revisions\/1684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.castle-estates.co.uk\/staffordshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.castle-estates.co.uk\/staffordshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.castle-estates.co.uk\/staffordshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Loose sockets and light switches\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>
\n<\/strong>
\n\u2022 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No smoke alarms or monoxide detectors fitted\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>
\n<\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Obscured gas meters and electricity mains fuse boxes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>
\n<\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Curtain tracks and blinds where screws have been put directly into the wall
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0without using rawl plugs <\/strong>
\n<\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Loose\/damaged steps, paving outside the property\u00a0 <\/strong>
\n<\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Loose stair carpet \u00a0 <\/strong>
\n<\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Poorly maintained decking \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>
\n<\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Air vents and air bricks covered in rooms especially where there are gas
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0appliances<\/strong>
\n<\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Locked windows with no keys supplied <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"