Landlords have a responsibility to their tenants

Landlords have a responsibility to their tenants under Duty of Care and the Housing Act to provide a safe home.

Radon is identified as a potential hazard in dwellings in the Housing Act 2004.

Landlords should certainly beware, failure to act on a suspected radon gas issue or in fact any issue under the Homes (fitness for human habitation) Act 2018 means the risk of being sued by your tenant. The act also means you are liable for not supplying adequate ventilation and failing to supply freedom from damp.

Therefore, it is now more important than ever that you invest in a ventilation solution for all your properties.

We recommend that action to reduce radon levels is taken if the annual average radon concentration in a property is at or above the Action Level of 200 Bq m-3.

There are two main remediation techniques available for lowering your radon levels: installing a radon sump or introducing positive pressure.

Positive Input Ventilation (PIV) systems create fresh and healthy living environments by supplying fresh, filtered air into a property at a continuous rate throughout a property and is our most popular method of whole house ventilation. Positive ventilation brings fresh air into a home, and dilutes the radon. The flow of air and radon from the ground may also be reduced. A positive ventilation system can be effective in homes with radon levels up to and around 500 Bq m-3.

For higher levels of radon, a radon sump would be required. This is a technique in which a small void is created underground beneath the property. This void serves as the lowest pressure point in the ground and collects radon gas from the soil, rather than the gas being drawn into the property which ordinarily represents the lowest point of pressure.

Pipework and an inline fan, normally installed on an outside wall of the building, exhaust radon continuously from the sump and discharge it safely into the atmosphere well away from the building.

We offer a radon measurement service for individuals and for landlords. Please call Radon Protection UK on 0800 978 8435.