Call of the month - fire safety in HMOs

This month, a  member contacted us seeking clarity on fire safety compliance for their HMO property. They were uncertain which regulations applied to their specific property type, and whether a fire safety risk assessment was mandatory.

The question

The member owns an HMO and wanted to ensure they were meeting all current fire safety obligations.

They were aware of the basic requirements for smoke and carbon monoxide alarms but were unsure whether their property fell under more stringent regulations and what additional steps they needed to take to remain compliant.

What was the advice?

We started by explaining that all rented properties must meet essential fire safety standards, but that all HMOs have additional requirements beyond these minimum standards.

For HMOs, the requirements become more specific. In all room-only HMOs, landlords are legally required to carry out a fire safety risk assessment.

Beyond this, landlords must provide comprehensive fire safety guidance to tenants, install appropriate fire doors, and display clear instructions on those doors.

The fire safety information that must be provided to room-only HMO residents includes:

• A clear evacuation strategy for the building (whether to stay put or evacuate)
• Instructions on reporting fires (such as dialling 999)
• Specific guidance on what residents should do in a fire emergency, including which exits to use

We also explained the ongoing obligations, including ensuring fire doors remain closed when not in use and that self-closing devices are not tamepred with, as well as establishing clear reporting procedures for any damage to fire safety equipment.

The fire safety information must be given to tenants at the earliest opportunity - ideally at the start of their tenancy - and should also be permanently displayed somewhere visible within the property.

HMO management regulations

In addition to this, all HMO are expected to follow the HMO management regulations which place specific duties on managers of HMOs in respect of fire safety.

The manager must ensure that:

• all means of escape from fire in the HMO are kept free from obstruction and maintained in good order and repair;
• any firefighting equipment and fire alarms are maintained in good working order
• all fire escape notices must be easy to read and follow

We then directed the member to our comprehensive fire safety guides for more detailed guidance and suggested they contact us again if they needed help implementing any of the requirements or had questions about their specific property setup.

More information

The NRLA runs courses on fire safety for landlords – and there are more resources available to you:

• are you compliant
• fire risk assessments for landlords
• fire safety overview