Gas Safety Certificate (CP12) in Hove

The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 place a clear duty on landlords. Every gas appliance, flue and relevant gas fitting in rented property must be checked once every 12 months by a Gas Safe registered engineer. Only a Gas Safe registered engineer can issue the CP12 certificate, and the record needs to be kept for at least 2 years. Landlords also have to give a copy to existing tenants within 28 days and to any new tenant before they move in.

homedata.co.uk records show Brighton and Hove's average house price at £404,000 in March 2026, with flats and maisonettes at £293,000, terraced homes at £470,000, semi-detached homes at £539,000 and detached homes at £843,000. The same data shows a -3.3% annual price change and 2,918 homes sold in 2023, down from 4,339 the year before. That level of turnover keeps landlords active across Hove, especially in flats and converted houses where gas checks are part of the standard lettings process. Many owners are balancing mortgage costs, letting compliance and periodic refurbishments at the same time.

Local housing stock adds another layer. New Wave brings 33 private sale one, two and three-bedroom apartments and three-bedroom townhouses between Hove Park and Hove Station, while One Hove Park has 71 one, two and three-bedroom apartments overlooking the park. Aurum Hove Seafront adds 52 apartments, Argentum on Kingsway has 33 apartments, and Kings House Hove Seafront includes 69 apartments with underground parking. The Sackville Trading Estate and Moda, Hove Central regeneration brings 564 build-to-rent homes, while Hyde Housing has planning for 306 council flats. Landlords in that mix need a clean paper trail, because each unit still needs an annual gas record and a valid certificate.

Fail to keep the check in date, and the law bites hard. Non-compliance can lead to a fine of up to £6,000 and up to 6 months imprisonment. That risk sits on top of wider tenancy problems, because an out-of-date CP12 can block a tenancy start, complicate renewals and create arguments over who knew what and when. Our team keeps the process practical. We inspect, record the result and send the certificate so landlords can file it straight away.

Carbon monoxide is the silent killer. It has no smell, no colour and no warning sign you can see, which is why gas safety checks matter so much in rented homes. Our engineers look for incomplete combustion, poor flue performance, blocked vents, staining around appliances and other signs that carbon monoxide could be building up. We also check whether the property has the right alarm protection in place, because the danger often starts with a small fault that goes unnoticed for months.

Since October 2022, carbon monoxide alarms have been mandatory in all rented properties where there is a fixed gas appliance, excluding gas cookers. That rule sits alongside the annual gas safety check, not instead of it. Common CO symptoms include headaches, dizziness, nausea, tiredness, confusion and collapse, and those signs can be mistaken for flu or fatigue. In Hove, where older homes around Adelaide Crescent, Hove Library and the conservation areas can still have original fireplaces or older boiler setups, the risk is not theoretical.

We tell landlords to treat any alarm activation as urgent. Open windows, shut off the appliance if safe to do so, move people outside and call the right emergency help. The point of the annual inspection is to reduce the chance of ever reaching that stage. A clean appliance, clear flue route and correct ventilation keep the risk down, and our Gas Safe engineers check those details on every visit.

Our gas safety certificates in Hove start from £60. That figure covers the inspection itself, the safety checks on the gas installation and the issue of the CP12 when the property passes. The final cost changes with the number of appliances, how long the visit takes and whether the engineer needs to check a boiler, hob, gas fire or water heater in one booking. For landlords with several rented units in the same street, we can usually group appointments together and keep the process straightforward.

Older homes around Brunswick Town, Cliftonville and the conservation areas often take longer than a modern apartment at New Wave or One Hove Park. More than one appliance means more testing, more notes and more time on site. If a fault is found, the visit can also run longer because the engineer needs to record the issue clearly and explain what happens next. That is normal, and it protects both the landlord and the tenant by leaving a proper compliance trail.

Once the property passes, we issue the certificate and send a copy so it can be passed to the tenant within the required time. Landlords should keep their own copy with the tenancy file, the boiler service record and any repair notes from previous years. That paper trail matters when a tenancy renews, when an insurer asks for proof of maintenance, or when a new tenant is moving into a property in Hove Station, Kingsway or Old Hove. A tidy record saves time later, and it makes the next annual check easier to book.