Survey shows that home buyers are neglecting gas safety checks

New research carried out by CORGI HomePlan has highlighted that many home buyers overlook the importance of a gas safety check when purchasing a new property. The study of 1000 people reveals that only one in 10 home buyers consider it important to check a property’s safety before moving in, while one in four (28%) believe it will be covered in the mortgage lender’s survey. The most common item new homeowners overlook is the working condition of their boiler, with 39% not getting a qualified engineer to test it.

Of the one third of respondents who did carry out a gas safety check before moving in, there was a wide misconception of what is a correct and legal safety check. As a result the ‘checks’ were often inadequate. Less than half said they would find out when the gas appliances in the home were last professionally serviced and one in three said that they would check the boiler themselves, despite not having the professional qualifications to perform this procedure. 

Scottish home buyers were the least home-safe conscious with 73% of respondents having no gas safety checks carried out before deciding to purchase a home. Wales was the safest region, with nearly eight in 10 respondents having a Gas Safe registered engineer check out their property before moving in. 

The same survey also reveals that four in 10 homebuyers who experienced problems with gas appliances after moving in took more than a week to get it repaired. The main reason for this was that it wasn’t urgent (30%) or that the home buyers could not afford the repair (19%). 

Kevin Treanor, director of CORGI HomePlan, comments: “Just as you wouldn’t commit to buy a property without seeing the surveyor’s report first, it is just as important that home buyers also see the full service record of all gas appliances and have a Gas Safe registered engineer inspect the home too. Carbon monoxide still kills around 50 people a year and every one of these deaths is avoidable. People must minimise the risks by making sure all their gas appliances are in full working order.”