News
Fire proof - are you ready?
Thursday 17th September 2015
Government has approved proposed legislation that requires all landlords within England to install working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in all rented properties.
The new legislation referred to as The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 will apply to any privately rented properties occupied on or after 1st October 2015. The legislation requires that landlords must install smoke alarms on each storey of the property and rooms with a solid fuel appliance, including wood burners and open fires will need their own carbon monoxide alarms.
Landlords are expected to check that the alarms are in working order at the start of any new tenancy. Those who do not comply with the new regulations may risk fines of up to £5,000.
However, regular checks can be achieved as part of the check-in and check-out process, with a note on the inventory that a check has been carried out.
One-off funding will be allocated so that fire and rescue authorities can offer free or subsidised alarms to local landlords in this financial year. So far, they have already issued around 445,000 smoke alarms and 40,000 carbon monoxide alarms.
ARLA have put together a handy fact sheet that tells you all you need to know in a simple and easy to understand format.