HMO fire risk assessments
An HMO is assessed as a whole, not just its common parts, and it is the escape route that decides whether it passes. Fixed fees, reports written to go straight into a licence application.
What gets checked in an HMO
Six areas account for almost every finding we record. If you want to get ahead of the assessment, start with the escape route.
Protected escape route
The stairs and hallway must form a protected route to the final exit. In practice this means fire doors to every room opening onto it, intact plasterboard, and nothing stored on the landing.
Interlinked detection
A grade D LD2 system as a minimum in most licensable HMOs: mains-powered, interlinked, with heat detection in kitchens and smoke detection on every storey of the escape route.
Fire doors
FD30 doors with intumescent strips and cold smoke seals, self-closing, and with gaps within tolerance. Painted-over strips and removed closers are the two most common failures we record.
Emergency lighting
Required where the escape route has no reliable borrowed light. Three storey HMOs almost always need it, and it is the item most often missing entirely.
Compartmentation
Thirty minutes of fire resistance between each letting room and the escape route. Downlighters, loft hatches and service penetrations are where it is usually breached.
Furnishings and housekeeping
Fire retardant furniture, safe electrical provision for the number of occupants, and a route that is not being used to store bikes, prams or rubbish.
Nine times out of ten, it is the loft conversion
Converting the loft to a fifth or sixth letting room turns a two storey house into a three storey one. That change alone raises the standard required of the escape route, usually triggering emergency lighting, upgraded detection and a fully protected stair that the original conversion never provided.
If the work was done without building regulations approval, the assessment will pick it up, and so will the council. It is far cheaper to find out from us first.
Unprotected escape route on three storey HMOs
Typically missing fire doors at the top of the stair, no emergency lighting, and detection that is not interlinked across all levels.
HMO fire safety questions
Is a fire risk assessment a legal requirement for an HMO?
Yes. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 applies to the whole of an HMO, not just the common parts, because the shared areas make it a non-domestic premises for these purposes. It applies whether or not the HMO is licensable.
How much does an HMO fire risk assessment cost?
From £245 for a three to five room HMO and from £325 for six rooms or more. The fee is fixed before the visit and priced on lettable rooms and number of storeys.
How often does an HMO assessment need reviewing?
Annually as standard practice, and immediately after any change: a new letting room, a loft conversion, a change in the number of occupants, or any alteration to the escape route.
Do I need one for a non-licensable HMO?
Yes. Licensing and the Fire Safety Order are separate regimes. A three person shared house that needs no licence still needs a fire risk assessment.
Will this satisfy my HMO licence application?
The report records significant findings in the format licensing officers expect, with an action plan and target dates, and can be submitted directly with the application. It is one of the documents most commonly requested.
Can I use a template instead?
A template can help you organise a walk round, but it does not make the assessment suitable and sufficient, which is the legal test. If a template assessment misses a compartmentation breach, the liability remains with you as the responsible person.
Get a fixed price for your HMO
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.
Mon to Fri, 8am to 6pm. Emergency callouts by arrangement.