Smoke Alarms To Become Mandatory in Rental Properties

Smoke Alarms To Become Mandatory in Rental Properties

12:56 PM, 9th May 2014, About 11 years ago 12

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On the 7th May 2014 Nick Rynsfold MP for Labour proposed a bill regarding Fire Safety “The purpose of the Bill is to remedy that by making the installation of a working smoke alarm mandatory in all privately rented housing” Smoke Alarms To Become Mandatory in Rental Properties

In the proposal the Labour MP also said “By a margin, the largest proportion of unprotected homes are privately rented”.

It may not surprise you that Nick Rynsfold MP is also director of the “Fire Protection Association”, perhaps he wants another industry generated on the backs of Landlords as seen with 6 monthly gas checks, EPC Certificates and 5 Yearly Electrical Certificates? Its good business if you can force landlords to use them.

No Matter; Labours Mr Rynsfold may be a fool regarding a Landlords obligations but Labour’s Housing Minister Emma Reynolds – the MP therefore responsible for Labours rent caps proposals, long term tenancies, banning letting agent fees and other matters effecting a landlords business – should be well aware of Landlords legal requirements to fit Fire Alarms!

Unfortunately not, Emma Reynolds MP instead slags off Philip Davies MP on twitter ……

What did this evil Philip Davies MP say in order to put tenants as 2nd class citizens not in need of a safe property? Well he informed the House of the Housing Health and Safety Rating System and the legal requirement already in place and Loony Left propaganda from Emma Reynolds MP ensued.

So much electioneering! Are the Conservatives really the evil advocates for landlords that Labour make them out to be? Do Labour really think landlords are eager to have their investment burn to the ground with tenants in them and their insurance to be void? Of course not, Labour is merely protecting the poor tenants from us evil landlords unwilling to spend less than £10 at Screwfix or B&Q for an fire alarm – yeah right!

Luckily it went to a vote; we now have the names of 256 MP’s who voted for this proposal and clearly have no idea about the Private Rented Sector or Health and Safety requirements. Nevertheless, they believe they are in a position to introduce further legal requirements (over 400 already) to tell landlords how to protect our business investments and our customers!

The message is clear; parliament says you currently do not need fire alarms. Landlords know better and 256 MP’s we voted in are instead wasting tax payers money debating irrelevant matters.

Nick Rynsfold MP says that 18% of landlords do not have Fire Alarms in our properties! So come on, own up, who are you?

How can the Shadow Housing Minister with an MP and Director of “Fire Protection Association” not know about the Housing Health and Safety Rating System ( HHSRS ), never-mind the other legal requirements regarding health and safety and requirements of insurers?

Why on earth did British Property Federation and National Landlords Association (NLA) not tell Nick Rynsfold MP of these requirements?


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Howard Reuben Cert CII (MP) CeRER

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19:26 PM, 9th May 2014, About 11 years ago

No, of course it's neither a law nor a mandatory requirement but it is indeed best practice and why wouldn't a responsible property owner (owner occupier or landlord) not want a working and effective smoke alarm anyway?

In our portfolio we not only install hard wired smoke alarms but also we install hard wired carbon monoxide alarms too. None of this is (or will be) formally required, but the cost of the initial outlay is tiny compared to the cost of rectification if anything went wrong! It's my perception of duty of care to my family at home and my tenants in my houses.

Jan Martin

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14:28 PM, 12th May 2014, About 11 years ago

I have been fitting fire alarms for years now . I was finding years ago that my tenants would take the batteries out . They would be needed for something else and then the tenant never replaced them . We would put batteries back in speak with the tenant etc . Srange how the tenants dont always care about risking their families life.
I like to think of myself as a positive person . Heaven knows you need to be as a landlord but it seems that without fail at least once a week I hear negative comments against landlords .

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