At Fire and Safety Solutions we often share news stories that we feel highlight potential risks relating to fire or failings with regards to reducing fire risks. Many of these items relate to commercial property such as industrial businesses or restaurants for example. However, we were equally alarmed to read the recent prosecution of three landlords of private properties for basic failures in protecting their tenants from the danger of fire.
If you are a tenant you would assume that your Landlord has taken all reasonable steps to ensure that the risk of fire is reduce in accordance with current regulations, equally if you are a landlord you must be aware that you have a responsibility to ensure that comply with current fire regulations before you let your property. You may not be aware of those regulations or what is required to comply which is where FASS can help you by carrying out a full safety check and issuing a Landlord certificate to prove you comply. Failure to comply with regulations is not only a danger to life and property, it is highly likely to invalidate your insurance and leave you facing prosecution.
All three Landlords who were recently prosecuted by Oxford City Council had action taken against them after an inspection by an environmental officer who found a variety of failings. In one house three people were found to be living on the third floor above a restaurant which was deemed a high-risk unlicensed house of multiple occupancy (HMO, with two fire-safety faults. The landlord was fined £4,000 and was ordered to pay surcharges and council costs of £1,436.
In the case of the second landlord, it was found he had breached fire and safety conditions of his HMO licence. He received a fine of £2,000 and ordered to pay surcharges and council costs of £1,375. The final landlord was found to be letting the property to three unrelated tenants in the unlicensed rental house and fire offenses including two smoke alarms that were not working and no fire door fitted to the kitchen. She received fines totaling £5,000 and was ordered to pay surcharges and council costs of £1,238.
Speaking on these cases, Paul Wilkinson – Managing Director of FASS said; “Whilst there are always incidents where people blatantly disregard laws, in some cases landlords may not be aware of the full extent of fire regulations their property needs to conform to in order to be rented out. To those people who are unsure or would like to check they have carried out everything required in order to meet current fire regulations we offer a fire safety check and landlord certificate service. I would urge those landlords to speak to us and we will be happy to advise on how we can help.”
To find out more about fire safety checks and landlord certificates please visit the following link or contact us for more information. We look forward to hearing from you.
