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New smoke alarm laws passed

Landlords and managing agents have less than two weeks to install smoke alarms in all rental homes.

The Negotiator

House of Lords imageThe Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations have finally been passed in Parliament, giving Landlords and Managing Agents until 1st October 2015 to comply.

Following final scrutiny of the measures in the House of Lords last week, landlords and Managing Agents now have less than two weeks to ensure that all tenancies have a smoke alarm fitted on every floor of their property where there is a room used wholly or partly as living accommodation. They will also be required to put a carbon monoxide alarm in any room where a solid fuel is burnt. Failure to do so could result in a fine of up to £5,000.

Baroness Williams of Trafford, the Communities and Local Government Minister, insisted that the aim of the regulations are to “save lives and not catch landlords out.”

But while many professionals in the housing sector have welcomed the aims of the regulations, there are concerns that the Government has ignored calls from across the Private Rented Sector (PRS) to reconsider the timeframe for its implementation.

David Cox ARLA imageDavid Cox (left), Managing Director of the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA), commented, “Whilst these measures are entirely sensible, ARLA is concerned that landlords will not have enough time to comply with the requirements, as it is simply impracticable for letting agents, who may manage a huge amounts of properties, to gain access to the properties and to install these alarms on behalf of their clients in the time frame allotted.”

On behalf of its members, ARLA has written to the Government on this issue to raise its concerns and suggested that all existing tenancies should be allowed to have until 1st January 2016 to comply.

Mr Cox said that his organisation “were encouraged” to see that Lord Marlesford showed support for ARLA’s proposals in Parliament and again put our suggestion to the Government. However, despite their efforts it appears that the Government will now go ahead and implement the new requirements as planned.

“We urge our members to ensure that they do all they can to ensure that their properties comply with the new regulations before the measures come into effect,” he added.

The British Property Federation (BPF) has also issued concerns that many landlords may even be unaware of the changes and the potential fines.

“We have been fully supportive of the campaign to make smoke alarms compulsory in private rented properties, and are therefore extremely disappointed to see this unnecessary delay in proceedings,” said Ian Fletcher, at the BPF.

“The original timeframe for the legislation was tight, but allowing time for a further debate in the Lords is going to make this even worse. Coupled with the fact that there has been no publicity on the changes, we are worried that many landlords are going to be caught out by the fine as a result of government’s disorganisation and lack of clarity,” he added.

September 22, 2015

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