A cooker hood, also known as an extractor fan, is used to extract smells and fumes from kitchens. It will take the moisture out of the air to help keep the environment clearer, as well as removing the smell of food from the space. It can do a lot of good for your kitchen and for your home in general.
It isn’t completely essential that you have a cooker hood. There aren’t any kinds of regulations that say you should have them in a property, and rental properties won’t necessarily contain them. However, they are very beneficial and will help to reduce damp in your home in general. They will make sure that the steam is removed when you are cooking and will vent it out of the building. It will also help to ventilate the property if you open windows, though this is less practical than an extractor fan in winter.