What is HHSRS in simple terms?

The Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) is the risk-based method local authorities in England use to judge whether conditions in a home are hazardous to health and safety. It assesses 29 types of hazard — including damp and mould — and rates how serious each one is.

What is the difference between a Category 1 and Category 2 hazard?

HHSRS scores each hazard. The most serious scores are Category 1 hazards, where the local authority has a duty to take appropriate enforcement action. Less serious scores are Category 2 hazards, where the authority has a power (discretion) to act.

Is damp and mould an HHSRS hazard?

Yes — 'damp and mould growth' is one of the 29 HHSRS hazards, and it's the one driving most current attention because of Awaab's Law. See our Awaab's Law guide .

Who carries out an HHSRS assessment?

Formal HHSRS assessments for enforcement are carried out by local authority environmental health officers. Landlords and surveyors also use HHSRS principles proactively to check and evidence that a property is safe. See our inspection guide .

HHSRS has been the subject of review and proposed reform. The core method is well established, but specifics such as guidance and banding may change, so always check the current position.

HHSRS Explained: The Complete Guide

The Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) is the backbone of housing-condition enforcement in England. If you’re a landlord, a housing professional, or someone building a career in property compliance, understanding HHSRS is essential — and with Awaab’s Law putting damp and mould under the spotlight, it has never been more relevant.

This guide explains what HHSRS is, the 29 hazards it covers, how assessment and scoring actually work, and how councils enforce it.

General information for England, not legal advice. HHSRS also applies in Wales, with differences. Confirm the current position and guidance on gov.uk and legislation.gov.uk.

What is HHSRS?

HHSRS is a risk-based assessment method introduced under the Housing Act 2004. It replaced the old “fitness standard” with something more sophisticated: instead of a simple pass/fail, HHSRS judges the risk of harm to occupants from hazards in a dwelling.

Local authorities use HHSRS to:

identify hazards in residential properties,
rate how serious each hazard is, and
decide what enforcement action, if any, is appropriate.

The system is concerned with the likely effect on a potential vulnerable occupant — not just the average person — which is why it weighs hazards seriously even when a current occupant seems unaffected.

Why HHSRS matters now

HHSRS has always underpinned council enforcement, but two things have raised its profile sharply:

Awaab’s Law, which builds on the same understanding of hazards and forces landlords to act on damp and mould within set timescales. See what is Awaab’s Law?
Heightened scrutiny of housing conditions across both social and private rented sectors.

For landlords, HHSRS is the lens through which a council will judge your property. For professionals, HHSRS competence is an increasingly valuable skill.

The 29 HHSRS hazards

HHSRS assesses 29 categories of hazard, grouped into four areas:

Physiological requirements — including damp and mould growth, excess cold, excess heat, and exposure to substances such as asbestos and carbon monoxide.
Psychological requirements — including crowding and space, entry by intruders, lighting and noise.
Protection against infection — including domestic hygiene, food safety, and water supply.
Protection against accidents — including falls (on stairs, between levels, on the level), electrical hazards, fire, and hot surfaces.

Damp and mould growth is hazard number one on the list — and the focus of most current attention.

How HHSRS assessment works

This is where HHSRS differs from a simple checklist. For each hazard, the assessor judges two things over the next twelve months:

Likelihood — how likely is it that an occurrence will lead to harm?
Spread of harm outcomes — if harm does occur, how serious might it be, across a range of possible outcomes (from minor to extreme)?

These combine into a hazard score. The score falls into a band (commonly labelled A to J), and the band determines the category:

Category 1 hazards — the most serious scores. The local authority has a duty to consider taking appropriate enforcement action.
Category 2 hazards — less serious scores. The authority has a power (discretion) to act.

The emphasis on a vulnerable occupant matters: for many hazards, the harm is assessed against the group most at risk (for damp and mould, for example, that includes the very young, the elderly, and those with respiratory conditions).

What councils can do: enforcement options

Where a hazard is found, a local authority has a range of enforcement tools under the Housing Act 2004, including:

Hazard awareness notice — formally flagging the hazard.
Improvement notice — requiring works to reduce or remove the hazard.
Prohibition order — restricting or banning use of all or part of the dwelling.
Emergency remedial action / emergency prohibition order — for imminent serious risk.
Demolition orders and clearance — in the most extreme cases.

For a Category 1 hazard, doing nothing is generally not an option — the authority must take appropriate action.

HHSRS and damp and mould

Because damp and mould is HHSRS hazard number one, the system is central to how both councils and Awaab’s Law treat it:

A council can assess damp and mould under HHSRS and require a landlord to act.
The HHSRS focus on vulnerable occupants is exactly why mould affecting a child or someone with a respiratory condition is treated so seriously — the lesson at the heart of the Awaab Ishak case.
Proper assessment looks at the cause (condensation, penetrating or rising damp, defects), which is what a competent damp and mould survey establishes.

Who carries out HHSRS assessments?

Local authority environmental health officers carry out formal HHSRS assessments for enforcement.
Surveyors and housing professionals apply HHSRS principles proactively — to check a property, evidence compliance, and prioritise works.

If you want to carry out assessments competently, see our HHSRS inspection guide and HHSRS training and qualifications.

Learn HHSRS properly

HHSRS rewards genuine competence — it’s a method, not a checklist, and applying it well takes training. Whether you’re a landlord wanting to understand your exposure or a professional building a career, structured learning pays off.