Short answer – “yes”!

Surprising, we know! However, we have found in some instances, typically in the living room in some spec houses, the standard of heating has failed to comply given the size of the room and the heating capacity of the heater i.e. kW rating of the heating.

“Living room” means the whole space the heater must be able to heat, including any connected spaces that cannot be closed off e.g. a hallway. To comply with Healthy Homes, the heating requirements are determined by the size of the main living room, the type of heating / heater (fixed to a wall) and it’s heating capacity (in kW).

Tenancy Services have developed a heating calculator for this purpose. It’s not for the faint hearted and we have known really intelligent people struggle to use it! This is particularly if the room is an odd shape. We recommend using an independent professional assessor, who will provide a detailed inspection report on whether your property complies or not, and what is required to bring it up to the required standards. See our previous post on reasons to use an independent assessor.