HHSRS Risk Assessment: Core Practitioner Programme

HHSRS Risk Assessment: Core Practitioner Programme

£546.00 inc VAT

The HHSRS changed in June 2026: twenty-one hazards in place of twenty-nine, new bands, and a new Operating Guidance. From 30 November, subject to Parliament’s approval, Awaab’s Law is due to extend to excess cold, excess heat, falls, structural collapse, fire, electrical hazards, and domestic hygiene and pests in social housing. Landlords, agents and housing teams need people who can find those hazards and assess them properly.

This programme teaches you to carry out an HHSRS risk assessment the way the 2026 Operating Guidance sets out: find the hazards in a home, score each one with the likelihood and harm formula, write a description that stands up to challenge, and understand what the result means for the landlord and the local authority.

It is self-paced and online, with about 29 hours of guided learning across 29 modules covering all twenty-one hazards. It ends with a practical capability assessment on real properties, marked by an Environmental Health Practitioner, so when you pass you have evidence of what you can actually do.

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Build real competence in HHSRS risk assessment with our practitioner programme, designed to give you the practical skills to assess a home against the 2026 Housing Health and Safety Rating System, including:

  • what the HHSRS is, what changed in June 2026, and how it sits alongside Awaab’s Law, the Renters’ Rights Act and the Decent Homes Standard
  • the 2026 scoring model: likelihood, the spread of harm, the formula, and how a score becomes a band and a category
  • a systematic inspection method, from preparing for the visit to recording evidence that holds up
  • all twenty-one hazards, each with how it causes harm, what to look for, the national averages and a scored workshop
  • writing hazard descriptions and score justifications that another assessor can follow and test
  • what a finding obliges: enforcement options, civil penalties, appeals, and how councils and social landlords use the system
  • assessing a whole dwelling: how hazards interact, how to prioritise, and what to do if a hazard is missed

At the end of the programme you will be able to assess a dwelling against the 2026 HHSRS and produce an assessment that someone else can rely on, proven through a capability assessment on real properties.

The programme is written for inventory clerks, letting and managing agents, property and block managers, surveyors, compliance leads and social housing teams. No previous HHSRS training is assumed, so it suits newcomers as well as experienced practitioners updating to the 2026 guidance. You should know your way around the layout, fabric and services of a typical UK home.

If your role is to read and act on HHSRS reports, not to carry out assessments, our HHSRS Awareness course is the better fit.

You can revisit any module at any point during your learning, or use the material as a refresher.

If you would like to discuss your training needs, or book for a team, please email academy@inventorybase.com or call 03333 444 506.

Information to note: the HHSRS guidance and the law around it are changing over the coming months, and the course is updated as they do. It is worth returning to it after you finish to stay up to date.

 

Course details, and what they mean for you
Course details What that means for you
Self-paced online learning, on any device Study between jobs and at your own pace. Nothing is locked, so you can go straight to the hazard you need for work and come back to the rest.
About 29 hours of guided learning Most delegates complete it over four to six weeks at a few hours a week. A typical hazard module takes about an hour, in three parts you can take separately.
29 modules, all twenty-one hazards, built on the 2026 Operating Guidance Every hazard you will meet, taught against the current guidance with its national averages, baseline indicators and the official worked examples.
Scoring workshops, a Scoring Lab and a quiz at the end of each teaching module, each passed at 80 per cent You practise each judgement on realistic cases before you make it on a real property, and you check your understanding as you go.
A practical capability assessment: at least three hazards on real properties of your choosing, submitted within 4 weeks of finishing the closing module It proves you can do the job, not just pass a test. Allow around a working day to inspect and write up. Extensions are available on request.
Marked by Alice Ibbotson, Environmental Health Practitioner, against five criteria, with a pass mark of 80 per cent and one resubmission included Expert, written feedback on your own work, normally within 10 working days, and advisory notes even when you pass.
Certificate on passing, reflecting the 2026 Operating Guidance Evidence of competence for clients and employers. A record of your result is kept for six years so your certificate can be verified, and we recommend recertifying every three years.
Suitable for logging as structured CPD About 29 hours of guided learning, plus the capability assessment as further practical CPD, towards your professional body’s requirements.
Support throughout: a delegate question board answered by the Academy team Ask about anything in the course, and see the answers to other delegates’ questions as well.
England, under the 2026 HHSRS The method applies to England. Wales still uses its own 2006 regulations, and Scotland and Northern Ireland do not use the HHSRS in law; the course explains what applies in each nation.

Do I need any previous HHSRS training?
No. The programme starts from the foundations. You should know your way around a typical UK home, but you do not need a surveying or environmental health qualification.

How long does it take?
About 29 hours of guided learning, at your own pace. Most delegates finish in four to six weeks at a few hours a week. Allow around a working day as well for the capability assessment.

Is there a time limit?
You study at your own pace. The one deadline is the capability assessment, which you submit within 4 weeks of completing the closing module. If you need longer, for example to arrange access to a property, ask us before the 4 weeks run out.

How long do I have access?
After enrolling you have 24/7 access for 12 months, to confirm, across any and all devices you own, so you can return to any module as a refresher.

What is the capability assessment?
You assess at least three hazards on real properties of your choosing, with at least one hazard in every property, and record them on our pro forma with your photographs. You need the owner’s permission, and the occupier’s where the property is occupied, and you remove any personal information before you submit.

Who marks it?
Alice Ibbotson, an Environmental Health Practitioner. An AI assistant prepares a first draft of the marking, checking every score against the 2026 formula, and Alice then reviews every mark and every line of feedback and makes the decision. No result is issued without her sign-off.

What if I do not pass first time?
Your submission comes back referred, marked up criterion by criterion. You revise it and resubmit within 8 weeks, and one resubmission is included in the price.

What if my resubmission does not pass, or I miss the 8 weeks?
You can buy a further attempt for £95 + VAT. It gives you another fully marked capability assessment, with written feedback from Alice Ibbotson, Environmental Health Practitioner, and 8 weeks to submit from the date we confirm your attempt by email. The pass mark and the critical-error rule are the same as for every attempt, and a further attempt does not include another free resubmission. Email academy@inventorybase.com and we will send you the link.

Will I need any equipment?
For the capability assessment, a torch, a moisture meter, a thermo-hygrometer, a tape measure and a camera or phone will cover most of what you inspect. The course explains how each one helps.

Do I get a certificate?
Yes, when your capability assessment is approved. It reflects the 2026 Operating Guidance, and we recommend recertifying every three years.

Is it a qualification?
It is a CPD course with a practical assessment, not a regulated qualification. It is suitable for logging as structured CPD.

Does it cover Wales and Scotland?
The method and scoring taught are England’s, under the 2026 Operating Guidance. The course explains what applies in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, so you know where the differences lie.

I need an adjustment. Can you help?
Yes. If a disability, a learning difference or another circumstance means you need an adjustment, such as extra time, materials in another format or support with the capability assessment, email academy@inventorybase.com before you start.

Can I request a refund?
The course gives you immediate access, so no refund is available once it has been started. For more information please review our Terms and Conditions.

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