Landlord fined after missing eight years of boiler checks

A landlord has been fined after failing to ensure gas safety checks were carried out at his rental property for eight years.

An investigation by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) found that Adam Evans failed annual safety checks on his property’s boiler for nearly a decade.

The house, in New Ferry on The Wirral, is occupied by a tenant living with her five young children.

The HSE began its investigation in October 2024 after receiving a report from Wirral Borough Council.

The woman had lived at the property since 2016 and reported that no annual gas safety checks had been carried out during her tenancy.

When compelled by the HSE, Evans was unable to supply any gas safety records for the past eight years.

Gas safety checks are a basic legal requirement for landlords and are essential to ensure that appliances and flues are safe, with gas appliances required to be checked every 12 months by a registered engineer.

Evans pleaded guilty to breaching the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998.

He was fined £2,400 and ordered to pay £5,000 in costs at Wirral Magistrates’ Court on 8th October 2026.

“Adam Evans showed a complete disregard for the law and put the lives of a mother and her children at risk,” said HSE inspector Ian Betley.

“The case highlights a serious failure by him to comply with well-established gas safety requirements.

“Landlords must ensure that gas appliances and flues are properly maintained and inspected by a Gas Safe registered engineer.

“Failure to do so will not be tolerated and enforcement action will be taken.”