7. Section 4 - Property details
This must be completed by the proposed licence holder.
This module is divided up into:-
- Property,
- Fire Safety,
- Gas and Electric safety,
- Furniture Safety,
- Heating,
- Facilities/Use of accommodation and Property Sketch
Property
Storeys – this includes basements if they are used in connection with the accommodation (including storage, siting of electric/gas meters etc) and attics if they are used in connection with the accommodation (including rooms, storage etc).
Unit of accommodation – this is yet to be defined by the ODPM, but for the purposes of this application the following constitute 1 unit of accommodation:-
- A shared house
- A bedsit
- A flat within a converted building where the facilities, although not shared, are not behind the front door of the flat (a non self contained flat)
Household can be:
- a person living alone or with a group of unrelated sharers;
- a family (including foster children);
- a cohabiting couple (including same sex)
In the case of a shared house e.g. a student house, each individual occupant is a household.
If you require any further explanation please contact the Private Sector Housing Team.
Fire safety
Fire Detection systems
Grade A = A fire detection and alarm system which incorporates Control and Indicating equipment with remote back up power supply (usually a panel in the hallway)
Grade D = A system of 240 volts mains powered smoke alarms, each with an integral standby supply that may be a single detector or two or more interlinked detectors.
Grade A & D = A system combining both Grade A and D.
Battery = Stand alone battery operated smoke alarms
If you have difficulty in establishing which system the property has please contact the Private Sector Housing Team.
**If you have a current test certificate for the system please provide the original certificate, which will be copied and returned to you.
***Please note that if you have only Battery operated smoke alarms you may be required to replace these with either Grade A or D during the period of your licence following the Housing Health and Safety Rating System inspection.
Gas and Electric safety
Gas supply - if you provide any gas appliances you must have an annual inspection carried out by a competent person (an engineer recognised by Gas Safe as being competent to undertake such testing).
**You must provide the original certificate, which will be copied and returned to you – the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998.
Electrical Installation - All electrical installations must be inspected by a competent person (an engineer recognised by the Institute of Electrical Engineers as being competent to undertake such testing) and shown to be safe. The certificate will state when the next inspection is required.
**If you have had an inspection undertaken you should provide the original certificate with your application, which will be copied and returned to you. If you have not you must be aware that at any time during the life of the licence you may be asked to produce a current certificate and it will be an offence if you fail to do so.
Electrical Appliances - If you provide any portable electrical appliances (i.e. Fridge, Freezer, microwave oven, kettle, heater etc) these should be inspected annually by a competent person (an engineer recognised by the Institute of Electrical Engineers as being competent to undertake such testing) unless all the appliances are under one year of age.
**If you have had the appliances tested you should enclose the original certificates with your application, which will be copied and returned to you. If you have not you must be aware that at any time during the life of your licence you may be asked to produce current certificates and it will be an offence if you fail to do so.
Furniture Safety
- If you provide any furniture to which the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 apply (i.e. beds, sofas, arm chairs, curtains etc) they must comply with the regulations.
- At application stage you will only be asked to confirm this yourself.
- Please find details of how you can find out more about these regulations
Heating
If you have a combination of the types of heating described in the boxes please tick all that apply.
On the tables (Pages 14 and 15) there is a column asking about the type of heating please use the following key:-
Full Gas Central Heating FGCH
Partial Gas Central Heating PGCH
Wall Mounted Gas Fire WMGF
Portable Gas Appliance PGA
Radiant Electric Fire (Fixed) REF
Wall mounted electric fire WMEF
Portable Electric Heater PEH
Night/Electric Storage Heater NSH
Other fixed electric heating O
Facilities/Use of accommodation and Property Sketch
Living Rooms - The total number of habitable rooms including reception rooms, dining rooms, studios, and box rooms but excluding kitchen dining rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms, toilets, storerooms, pantries, cellars, garages and any other rooms not designed for living. Dormitory accommodation should be excluded and bedsits included each being counted as 1.
Sleeping rooms - Total number of rooms providing sleeping accommodation. Both dormitory accommodation and bed sits should be excluded.
Bath/shower rooms - Total number of bathrooms or shower rooms in the property
Shared bath/shower rooms - Total number of bathrooms or shower rooms in the property which are shared.
Toilets with wash basins - Total number of toilets with wash basins in the property. Toilets located within the bathrooms or shower rooms should each be counted. Toilets with no hand basin available within the same room must not be counted.
Shared toilets with wash basins - Total number of toilets with wash basins in the property which are shared.
Kitchens - Total number of kitchens in the property. Kitchen dining rooms should be counted here as one. Large Kitchens even with double facilities should still only be counted as one.
Shared kitchens - Total number of kitchens in the property which are shared.
Sinks - Total number of full size sinks (not wash hand basins) in the property. Sinks in the kitchens should be included here and where there is more than one sink in a kitchen each one should be counted.
Shared sinks - Total number of sinks in the property which are shared.
Self contained units - Total number of flats in the property which are self contained.
Non self contained units - Total number of flats in the property which are NOT self contained.
Dormitories - A dormitory is accommodation where the occupant has no space which is for their exclusive use. It is a room for sleeping in with several beds typically designed to house students. This means that while having their own tenancy or licence the occupant is sharing sleeping space with at least one other having a separate tenancy or licence.
Providing a plan of your property
Property Sketch
- Please see separate enclosed guidance on providing an accurate scaled plan of your property
- If your property is already known to us and we have already drawn up a plan we will have provided this with your application pack.
- Please mark the location of any smoke and heat detectors on the plan/sketch. This does not have to be too precise; we need to know which rooms they are in. Please indicate a smoke detector with an S in a circle and a heat detector with an H in a circle.
- Please sign the plan to show that it is correct and return it with your application.