Gas safety, electrical safety, fire safety and carbon monoxide safety

The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 (legislation.gov.uk) (as amended by The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (Amendment) Regulations 2022 ) apply to private rented and social housing provider tenancies from 1 October 2022. There are a few types of occupation that are exempt.

Landlords are required to:

• Ensure at least one smoke alarm is fitted on each storey of their rental properties where there is a room used as living accommodation. This has been a legal requirement in the private rented sector since 2015.
• Ensure a carbon monoxide alarm is fitted in any room used as living accommodation which contains a fixed combustion appliance (excluding gas cookers).
• When informed that any smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms are faulty, ensure that they are repaired or replaced.

The Regulations don’t specify the type of smoke alarm to be fitted. We recommend that landlords choose the type of smoke alarms based on the needs of their building and their tenants and ensure that those alarms are compliant with British Standards BS 5839-6. Where battery powered alarms are selected, alarms with ‘sealed for life’ batteries rather than alarms with replaceable batteries are the better option.

The Regulations don’t stipulate the type of carbon monoxide alarms should be installed. Landlords should make an informed decision and choose the type of carbon monoxide alarms based on the needs of their building and their tenants and ensure that those alarms are compliant with British Standards BS 50291. Where battery powered alarms are selected, alarms with ‘sealed for life’ batteries rather than alarms with replaceable batteries are the better option.

We will presume to take enforcement action when these requirements are not met and serve a Remedial Notice. Failure to take action to install detectors within 28 days will result in a £2,000 financial penalty being charged for a first offence with a civil penalty of £5,000 for further offences.

When taking enforcement action under these Regulations, we will have reference to the government guidance issued to local authorities.

Guidance for landlords detailing their obligations under these Regulations is available on the goverment website.

The Council has set out its approach to this specific area of enforcement, as required by the legislation, in a Statement of Principles.

Houses in Multiple Occupation are likely to require a higher level of automatic fire detection than this minimum provision due to the increased fire risk they present.

We will have reference to the LACORS Fire Safety guidance when considering the appropriate level of fire precautions to enforce in residential accommodation.

For more information on our enforcement approach, see our Private Sector Housing Enforcement and Civil Penalties Policy.