A campaign from The ASCP
Safety can't wait outside
A campaign for safer homes, clearer safeguards and timely action when essential checks are repeatedly delayed.
Access for Safety is a campaign to protect residents by making sure essential home safety checks can happen before risks are allowed to grow. It calls for a clearer, fairer legal route when repeated reasonable attempts to arrange access have failed.
The problem
The safety framework stops working when it cannot get through the front door.
Access is a safety issue
Gas servicing, electrical inspections, fire-related activity, damp and mould investigations, water hygiene and asbestos-related work all depend on reliable access to the home.
Repeated attempts have become normal
Missed appointments trigger more letters, more contractor visits, more internal chasing and, in a smaller number of cases, expensive legal escalation.
Risk can remain hidden
CORGI inspection evidence shows serious gas and electrical defects still exist. Where access is delayed, those hazards can remain unresolved inside homes and buildings.
The legal route is unclear
Landlords carry serious safety duties, but the route for fulfilling them when access is repeatedly withheld remains fragmented, inconsistent and too dependent on local practice.
The reform
A clear statutory route for prescribed safety checks and works.
01
Apply only to defined safety purposes where landlords already carry legal or regulatory duties.
02
Require prior reasonable engagement, proper notice and clear resident communication.
03
Build in safeguards for vulnerability, communication barriers and safeguarding concerns.
04
Create a consistent route that is fairer for residents, landlords and the wider safety system.
Led by the ASCP
The voice of professionals in safety and compliance in social housing.
The ASCP is the professional membership body for safety and compliance leaders across UK social housing and communities. We work with landlords, contractors, policymakers and sector partners to raise standards, share expertise and support safer homes.
Learn more about the ASCPInsights
Campaign news, evidence and sector voices.
Follow the latest thinking behind Access for Safety, from policy updates to practical reflections from the people managing access every day.
Apr
2026
Campaign update
Why access reform matters now
A short briefing on why delayed safety access has become a practical risk for residents, landlords and contractors.
Read insight
Apr
2026
Evidence
What the safety data tells us
The campaign evidence points to hidden gas and electrical hazards that can remain unresolved when access attempts fail.
Read insight
Apr
2026
Practice
Designing safeguards into access
Reform must protect residents as well as property safety, with proper notice, vulnerability checks and clear communication.
Read insightCampaign resources
Download the white paper and other supporting materials.
Access the campaign white paper, infographic, summary briefing, MP letter template and media kit through a short secure form.
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Add your organisation to the supporters wall.
Show public support for a clearer, fairer and safer access framework for social housing.
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