Smoke alarms play an important role of alerting a building of a potential fire. As a landlord, it can get confusing trying to keep up with the regulations that should be followed to ensure the safety of your occupants. This blog will outline your obligations as a landlord, so you can stay informed on what is the legal requirement for smoke alarms in rented property UK.
What is the Latest Requirement For Smoke Alarms?
The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (Amendment) Regulations 2022 came into action from 1 October 2022. This means that landlords are now required to do the following:
- Have at least 1 smoke alarm on each floor of their home where there is a room used for living accommodation. Since 2015, this has been legally required for privately rented properties.
- Ensure there is a carbon monoxide alarm in any room used as living accommodation which contains a fixed combustion appliance (this excludes gas cookers). Fixed combustion appliances are any apparatus that burns fuel to generate heat, such as a boiler.
- Smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms must be repaired or replaced once the tenant informs the landlord it is faulty.
Landlords must ensure that these alarms are working correctly at the start of a new tenancy also. Once the tenancy begins, it is the tenant’s responsibility to test these alarms and inform the landlord if there is a fault found and a replacement is needed.
What Happens if a Landlord Fails to Comply?
Once the landlord is made aware of a faulty alarm, they are expected to take action to install new alarms as soon as possible. If there is reason to believe the landlord has not complied with the regulations above, then a local housing authority must serve a remedial notice. The notice will outline conditions which must be met by the landlord within 28 days.
The local authorities will take action to ensure the tenants have working alarms, if for any reason the landlord fails after these 28 days. They are also able to impose a fine of up to £5,000 if necessary.
As a landlord, there are a number of responsibilities that take up your valuable time. Let Pinpoint homes help you where we can. We provide end of tenancy cleaning, so take the pressure off you, as well as one-off cleaning, carpet cleaning and deep cleaning. If you need a bit of extra help, contact us to discuss your requirements.
