Landlord Gas Safety Certificates in Lynton

I inspect every fixed gas appliance and the whole gas installation.

Boiler: a full check — ignition, combustion analysis, heat exchanger condition, flue integrity and spillage test, and every safety device. I check the external flue terminal too where I can get to it.

Gas fires: Lynton's older properties, the Victorian terraces and the converted guesthouses from the town's resort heyday, often have gas fires alongside the main boiler as extra heating, and some have back boilers behind them. Every connected gas appliance goes into the inspection.

Gas hob or cooker: every burner tested for ignition and safe operation, with the flame failure device checked on each ring individually.

Gas pipework and tightness test: all accessible pipework inspected and the installation tested for gas tightness. If I suspect a leak it gets dealt with before I leave.

Ventilation: I confirm the required ventilation openings are there and clear.

Safety devices: all thermostats, flame failure devices and pressure relief valves tested.

Everything I find gets explained plainly: safe, At Risk (AR) or Immediately Dangerous (ID).

Lynton and Lynmouth live off visitors. Between the coastal and moorland scenery, the cliff railway, the access to Exmoor and the Valley of the Rocks, there's a steady stream of them, and the town has more holiday accommodation and second homes relative to its permanent population than most North Devon towns. B&Bs, self-catering cottages, old guesthouses split into holiday flats. Most of the building stock has some tie to the tourist trade.

All of it falls under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 if there are gas appliances in it. The annual CP12 applies to every commercially let property, however few weeks a year it's occupied.

A few things worth knowing if you let here:

Seasonal boiler idle periods. Plenty of Lynton properties are let seasonally — busy spring to autumn, quiet or empty through winter. A boiler that's been off for three or four months and then fired up for the season is far more likely to throw a fault than one in constant use. Booking the annual inspection in autumn, while it's been in use and any wear is fresh, or in February before the season starts, gives you the best chance of sorting problems before guests arrive.

Older housing and awkward flues. Lynton is largely Victorian, and the buildings show it: multiple flue stacks, chimneys adapted for gas fires over the decades, systems with layer on layer of history. The Bristol Channel and the damp coastal air matter too — flue terminals in exposed spots corrode faster than they would inland, and damp gets into the insulation on older pipework. On exposed Lynton properties I check flue terminals carefully.

Remote location and engineer availability. Worth saying outright: not every Gas Safe engineer covers Lynton. The drive over Exmoor, whether from Barnstaple via Lynton Road or up from Ilfracombe, eats a chunk of the day, and a lot of engineers don't bother. If you've struggled to find someone reliable, you're far from alone. I make the trip regularly, and if you've got several properties I'll do them in one visit to keep the travel down.

MEES (Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards). If your Lynton let runs commercially, it has to meet minimum EPC thresholds. Lynton's older buildings — stone and slate, original windows, open fireplaces — tend to score poorly, and the gas heating system is a big part of the number. I'll give you an honest view of the boiler's condition during the gas safety inspection, though a formal EPC assessment is its own separate job.

Letting agent requirements. Holiday let agencies handling Lynton and Lynmouth properties increasingly want a current CP12 before they'll list you, and some short-term letting platforms have their own safety rules that include gas documentation. Getting it done before the season starts saves a scramble later.

EX35 covers Lynton, Lynmouth and the Exmoor country behind them.

Lynton: the main town up on the clifftop. Mostly Victorian — terraces and semis from the resort years, plus the bigger guesthouses and hotels, some of which are now flats and holiday apartments. They come with all the Victorian trimmings: original flue stacks, chimneys adapted more than once, and pipework routed around architecture that never anticipated it. I work through each inspection methodically.

Lynmouth: the lower village at the foot of the cliff, reached by the cliff railway or a steep road down. It's a different place altogether — more compact, more commercial along the waterfront, with the East Lyn and West Lyn meeting there. The 1952 flood is still part of the town's story, and some of the valley properties are rebuilds since. Between the rivers and the sea air, damp is a live concern in Lynmouth in a way it isn't everywhere in North Devon.

CO risk in holiday accommodation is nothing to shrug at, and Lynton's older housing — gas fires and back boilers sitting alongside more modern boilers — has a good deal more going on than a new-build with a single combi.

Under the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (Amendment) Regulations 2022, landlords must fit a CO alarm in any room with a fixed combustion appliance. For a holiday let, the sensible reading is that this needs to hold good for every guest stay — the alarm has to be working when they walk in.

I test for CO around every appliance during the inspection with a calibrated analyser. But an annual test isn't continuous protection. A permanently fitted alarm covers the rest of the year.

If your Lynton property has a gas fire or a back boiler, putting an alarm near it is simple due diligence. I can supply and fit one while I'm there.

A CP12 for one appliance is £85 including VAT. Each additional appliance is £30, except gas fires, which are £80 each. A standard gas boiler service and CP12 package is £145; the Full Boiler Service and CP12 package is £185. Travel within 25 miles of South Molton is included; beyond that radius, a £30 including-VAT travel charge applies and is disclosed before booking.

If you've got several properties around Lynton and Lynmouth, I can do them all in one visit. And if you've also got holiday lets in Combe Martin or Ilfracombe, I'll fold those into the same run. Get in touch with the details.

You'll get an answer. Ring or message during the working day and you'll hear back the same day; evenings and weekends, it'll be the next working day. And if it isn't a job for me, I'll tell you that and point you at someone who can help, rather than going quiet on you.

When you book, I'll confirm it and give you a two-hour window rather than a whole day sat at home waiting. On the morning you get a text with a tracking link, so you can see where I've got to instead of wondering. Traffic and the job before yours are real, so it's a window rather than a promise to the minute, but if it slips you'll hear it from me first.

Call 01271 444410 or email info@tarkaboilersbarnstaple.co.uk.

I cover Lynton, Lynmouth and the surrounding EX35 area, and I'm happy to do several properties in one visit. Tell me what you've got when you ring.