A new survey of tenants suggests many know little about essential maintainance of their property, and often fail to check the professional credentials of tradespeople. 

The survey was conducted amongst a relatively small sample – 250 tenants, in both the private and social sectors, and was commissioned by software firm Gas Tag.

It found that 29 per cent do not bother to ask for the credentials of gas engineers visiting their home, with 50 per cent still believing their gas engineer should be Corgi registered – even though the name and system changed to the Gas Safe Register almost 10 years ago.

Some 28 per cent either didn’t have or didn’t know if their rented home had a Gas Safety Certificate, which is a legal requirement, and almost a quarter did not think their landlord or agent on behalf of the landlord was obliged to install a carbon monoxide alarm if there was a solid fuel burning source like wood or coal.

A high 81 per cent did not know that a landlord or agent is responsible for checking all electrical appliances every time a new tenant moves into a property while 36 per cent wrongly thought the tenant was responsible for electrical safety in the rented home.

Almost a third did not realise they should call the National Grid helpline if they smell gas in or around the home.

“The findings reveal that large sections of the UK’s rented population are putting their lives at serious risk. There is a huge amount of confusion about what someone’s landlord is responsible for” claims Paul Durose, Gas Tag chief exeutive.