New regulations that are set to come into effect in October 2015 will mean that landlords have a legal duty to ensure that working fire alarms are fitted in their rental properties, along with carbon monoxide detectors.
Brandon Lewis, Housing Minister while the coalition Government was in power, announced the regulation change last month and said: “I’m changing the law to ensure every tenant can be given this important protection.”
Under current fire safety laws, which all landlords must observe, a landlord has a legal obligation to ensure that furniture and furnishings provided in a rental property are fire safe; that their properties follow fire safety regulations, including unobstructed access to escape routes; and that fire alarms and extinguishers are provided if the property is a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO).
However, the new rule change will mean that landlords have a legal requirement to install fire alarms even if the property is not a HMO.
Landlords will also have to ensure that alarms are working at the start of a new tenancy, and if they fail to comply with any part of the new legislation they could be served with fines of up to £5,000.
Carbon monoxide alarms will be mandatory if an area is deemed to be high risk (if a gas boiler is located near a living room or bedroom, for example).
However, the responsibility to regularly test a property’s fire alarms will still fall to the tenant.
Private rental sector properties have attracted a lot of political attention recently, and the Government believes its latest measure should help to prevent approximately 26 deaths and 670 injuries in the UK every year.