Landlord fire risk assessments
If you let a shared house, a block of flats, or anything with a communal entrance, you hold a legal duty that your agent cannot take off you. Here is exactly where it applies and what satisfies it.
What the law actually requires of landlords
Where the Fire Safety Order applies
It covers the common parts of any building containing two or more dwellings, and the whole of an HMO. It does not reach inside a single private dwelling, which is the distinction most landlords get wrong.
Who holds the duty
Whoever has control of the premises. For most rentals that is the landlord, but where a managing agent has repairing control of the common parts, the duty can sit with them, or with both of you.
What a letting agent does not do
Instructing an agent does not transfer the duty. If the assessment is missing or inadequate, enforcement is directed at the person with control, and that is normally still you.
How often it must be reviewed
There is no statutory expiry date. The requirement is that it stays current, which in practice means an annual review and an immediate one after any change to layout, tenancy type or occupancy.
Find the detail for your situation
HMOs and shared houses
Licensable and non-licensable shared housing, where the protected escape route and interlinked detection do most of the work.
Read moreBlocks of flats
Purpose-built and converted blocks, assessed on the common parts with the stay put or simultaneous evacuation strategy set out clearly.
Read moreCommunal areas
Shared entrances, stairs and corridors in any building with more than one dwelling. The duty applies even where the flats themselves do not.
Read moreFire safety certificates
What landlords are actually asked for, why there is no such thing as a single fire certificate, and what document satisfies a licensing officer.
Read moreMore than one property?
Assessments booked together are surveyed in the same run and priced accordingly. Letting agents and block managers can be set up on a rolling annual review so nothing lapses without warning.
Discuss a portfolioLandlord questions
Do landlords need a fire risk assessment?
If you let a single self-contained property with no shared areas, the Fire Safety Order does not apply to the dwelling itself, though you still have duties under housing legislation. If you let an HMO, or any building with communal areas, a fire risk assessment is legally required.
Does a single let need one?
Not under the Fire Safety Order. However most letting agents, mortgage lenders and insurers now ask for one, and the Housing Health and Safety Rating System still applies. Many landlords get one for a single let as evidence of due diligence.
My agent manages the property. Am I still responsible?
Very likely yes. The duty follows control, not contract. An agent with full repairing control of the common parts may share the duty, but instructing an agent does not remove your liability.
What does a licensing officer want to see?
A written assessment recording significant findings, with an action plan and dates. They are checking that the assessment is suitable and sufficient for the property, not just that a document exists.
How much does it cost for a landlord?
Single rented property from £195, HMO from £245, communal areas of a block from £345. Portfolio landlords are quoted per property with a reduction for multiple assessments booked together.
Get a fixed price for your rental property
Tell us the property type and roughly how many rooms or how much floor area. You will get a fixed price back the same working day, with no site visit needed to quote.
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