Do You Need a Gas Safety Certificate When Selling a House?

Exploring all things gas safety certificates, what certificates you NEED when selling and how you may be able to sell your house without a gas safety certificate...

Selling a house can be a stressful experience, with countless details to manage and a long list of essential documents to gather -- proof of identity, Title Deeds, an EPC, a Gas Safety Certificate, and more.

Wait a minute, a gas safety certificate? I don’t have one of these! Do I NEED one to be able to sell my property?

A great question, one which we’re going to answer for you!

On top of this answer, we’re also going to tell you more detail about gas safety certificates in general, the different certificates you will need to sell your house, AND what to do if you fall into the category of ‘no gas safety certificate and selling house’.

What is a gas safety certificate?

A gas safety certificate, which you may also see called a landlord’s gas safety check, is required by law for all properties in the UK, which are used as accommodation and contain gas appliances.

The gas safety certificates are monitored and regulated by The Gas Safety Regulations of 1998, which requires all gas appliances to be checked on a yearly basis.

Who can issue a gas safety certificate?

Legally, the only people who can carry out and issue a gas safety certificate are registered gas safety engineers. Your gas safety engineers must be a member of a company recognised by the Health and Safety Executive.

If you’re unsure whether or not someone has been certified, the Gas Safety Register has a list of names who are certified by the regulatory body. If you’ve had a gas safety certificate issued by someone who isn’t on the register, you may want to get a new one from someone who is listed, just to make sure it complies with all laws and regulations.

Why would I need a gas safety certificate?

A gas safety certificate provides protection from the following two, potentially deadly problems:

Gas Leaks

Gas Leaks can lead to your property suffering a major problem, such as explosion or fire. In order to prevent this, a gas engineer will inspect the pipework around your property, checking the pipes visually and also conducting a test on their tightness.

All safe gas appliances are built to burn gas in a controlled, safe way, but it’s important these are checked annually, to avoid any faults leading to gas leaks.

Carbon monoxide poisoning

A gas safety engineer will also ensure there’s no carbon monoxide in your pipes. Carbon monoxide is a highly dangerous gas, as you can’t see, taste or smell it, and has deadly consequences.

It’s probably quite clear to you why it’s so important to get annual gas safety inspections. Another thing that you can do, alongside this yearly inspection, is to fit a carbon monoxide detector, just to make sure you’re keeping yourself safe between visits.

Who pays for gas safety certificate?

Your gas safety certificate will need to be paid for by the person who owns the gas appliances. For example, if you’re renting a property, it will likely be your landlord who will pay for the gas safety certificate, as they will be the owner of the gas appliances in the property.

Is it a legal requirement to provide a gas safety certificate when selling a house?

This may come as a surprise to you, but it’s not actually a legal requirement for you to provide your buyers with a Gas Safety Certificate. However, if you’re renting out your property, you will be legally required to provide this certificate and make sure you keep up with the checks annually.

Although, like we said, the certificate isn’t a legal requirement for selling, it is something that buyers will want to have and may look for when buying a house. After all, we all like to feel safe in a home we’re about to spend a big sum of money on!

Do I need a boiler certificate when selling a house?

What, there’s more certificates I might need when selling?! Yes, we’re afraid to say there are actually many different certificates you may need to have when it comes to selling your house.

We’re going to give you the full rundown on the certificates you will need in the next section, so make sure you keep reading!

For now though, we’re going to focus on a boiler certificate…

What is a boiler certificate?

A boiler certificate can refer to two things. One may be the gas safety certificate, which we’ve already covered. Or it may be referring to the Building Regulations Compliance Certificate.

This Buildings Regulations Compliance Certificate is issued at the authorisation of Gas Safety Register, and they are given to you when the gas has been installed in the property. This certificate means it’s easy for the local authority to be informed that the installation is compliant with all building regulations.

Can I sell without the boiler certificate?

In short, no. It’s impossible to sell a house in any circumstance without the Building Regulations Compliance Certificate, or boiler safety certificate.

If you have had this certificate but have lost it, then don’t worry! You can make an application for a new one from the records at the Gas Safety Register. You will need to keep in mind that this will come at a cost.

What certificates are required to sell a house?

We told you we’d come back to this!

Okay so, you’re a bit confused about which certificates you actually NEED to sell your house and which ones are just an ‘added extra’. We do actually have a complete article on this, but if you just want the quick overview then we’ve got you covered:

• Proof of Identity

• Title deeds

• Energy Performance Certificate (also known as an EPC)

• Share of freehold/leasehold document

• Leasehold information pack (only needed if you have a leasehold)

• Fixtures and fittings form (also known as TA10)

• Property information form (also known as TA6)

• Proof of your house repayments

• Offer acceptance

No gas safety certificate and selling house: what do I do?

As we said earlier, by law you don’t actually need to have a gas safety certificate when selling your house. BUT this doesn’t mean that a gas safety certificate isn’t something that buyers will look for…

You can try to sell your house on the market without a gas safety certificate, but you may find a lot of buyers asking for you to provide the certificate, which you won’t be able to do.

‘So, what do I do then? I don’t want to spend the money on a gas safety certificate – can I find a buyer who won’t be put off by no gas safety certificate?’

Good question – the answer is yes, yes you can…

Here at The Property Buying Company, we’re a cash buyer of houses, buying any property in any condition and any location. We will buy your house from you, exactly as it is, meaning you don’t have to use up any of your time or money on getting a gas safety certificate!

We also specialise in getting you a super quick sale – not to brag, but we have been known to complete in as little as 7 days! Too fast? No worries – we suit the completion around a timescale of your choice, so you really are in control.

AND we’ve not even got to the ‘best bit’ yet… We will cover all your fees! Yes, that does mean no legal fees, estate agent fees, survey fees, NOTHING!

No gas safety certificate + selling house = NO PROBLEM

Ready to get your house sold, without spending a penny on a gas safety certificate (or any fees at all)? Give us a call or fill in our online form for a no-obligation cash offer which we could have in your bank in FULL, as soon as you want it…