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Landlords urged to be savvy on new fire legislation
This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.
Landlords are being urged to make sure that they implement new fire safety measures in their property, to ensure they are ready for new legislation, which comes in later in the year.
Calls
Townends Estate Agents has called for landlords to be compliant with legislation relating to smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, ahead of changes coming into force from 10th October.
Under this new legislation, all landlords in the privately rented sector in Britain will be permitted to install smoke alarms on each floor of their rental properties. Landlords will also be required to test these alarms at the start of each tenancy.
Carbon monoxide alarms will also have to be included in high-risk rooms, for example those that contain a fuel burning combustion appliance. All landlords in breach of these regulations could face a penalty of £5,000 for breach of duty.[1]
Landlords urged to be savvy on new fire legislation
Safety
Managing Director of Townends Estate Agents Caroline Kavanagh said, ‘letting a property should be viewed as a business and landlords have a duty of care to ensure the safety of their tenants, just as an employer would their employees.’ She said their her company, ‘fully support the introduction of this ruling and want to make it as easy as possible for all our landlords to be fully compliant as soon as possible. Landlords should view this as an opportunity to demonstrate their professionalism through thorough due diligence and put themselves one step ahead.’[2]
‘We understand that landlords often feel their list of obligations is ever growing and many find it a challenge keeping up with the number of requirements affecting landlords,’ Kavanagh continued. She believes that, ‘sufficient knowledge of current legislation is imperative and with over 40% of fire related deaths occurring in properties without working smoke alarms, every landlord should want to treat their rental property with the same precautionary measures as they would their own home.’[3]
[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/landlords/landlords-urged-to-implement-new-fire-regulations.html
