ARLA Requests More Time for Smoke Alarm Regulations Enforcement
The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) has called on the Housing Minister, Brandon Lewis, to reconsider the timeframe in which landlords must comply with the requirement to install smoke alarms on each storey of their rental properties and carbon monoxide alarms in rooms with solid fuel appliances.
ARLA Requests More Time for Smoke Alarm Regulations Enforcement
ARLA’s Managing Director, David Cox, observes that the draft Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 could be implemented for new tenancies on 1st October, but believes there should be a deadline of 1st January 2016 for all other tenancies.
These comments arrive after the House of Lords rejected the draft regulations, with just three weeks to go before the scheduled enforcement. Read more here: /house-of-lords-rejects-smoke-alarm-law-with-just-3-weeks-to-go/
The issue will return to a full sitting of the House of Lords for discussion next week.
In a letter to Lewis, Cox states: “We fully support the principle that all tenants should benefit and expect a working smoke and carbon monoxide alarm in their property.”1
He suggests:
- From 1st October 2015, all new tenancies should comply with the regulations, as drafted.
- However, all existing tenancies should be allowed until 1st January 2016 to comply. Cox says that this is not to allow landlords to avoid their responsibilities, but to ensure it is practically possible to buy and install alarms in time, particularly for letting agents, who often have large portfolios of rental properties.
- An amendment to the regulations so that landlords must ensure alarms are tested either two weeks before or after the start date of each new tenancy. For example, a tenancy commencing on 1st November 2015 must have testing completed between 18th October and 15th November 2015. He believes this allows some flexibility for the landlords that have several properties and agents who can sometimes manage multiple check-ins on the same day.