Are you a letting agent or a landlord based in England? If so, you’d better get your skates on – a new act has just been passed in parliament and you have less than two weeks to comply – or be at risk of a £5,000 fine!
From October 1st it will become the law for all rental properties in England to have a working smoke alarm on each floor, and a carbon monoxide detector in each room where a solid fuel appliance is located. Carbon monoxide detectors aren’t required for gas or electric devices, though it would be common sense to provide them, as malfunctioning boilers can produce the deadly carbon monoxide gas too.
The new legislation was thrown out of the House of Lords as recently as last week, saying that there had not been nearly enough publicity or warning for landlords. However, both the House of Lords, and House of Commons have now given it the go ahead.
David Cox, managing director of ARLA, criticised the lack of notice that had been provided.
“Whilst ARLA is entirely supportive of the aims of the Regulations, we remain concerned that the Government has ignored calls from across the private rented sector to reconsider the timeframe for its implementation.
“Whilst these measures are entirely sensible, ARLA is concerned that landlords will not have enough time to comply with the requirements, as it is simply impracticable for letting agents, who may manage a huge amount of properties, to gain access to the properties and to install these alarms on behalf of their clients in the timeframe allotted.
“On behalf of its members, ARLA has written to the Government on this issue to raise its concerns and suggested that all existing tenancies should be allowed to have until January the 1st to comply.
“We were encouraged to see that Lord Marlesford showed support for our proposals in Parliament and again put our suggestion to the Government.
“However, despite our efforts it appears that the Government will now go ahead and implement the new requirements as planned.
“We urge our members to ensure that they do all they can to ensure that their properties comply with the new regulations before the measures come into effect.”
There is also a great deal of confusion over whether or not the new regulations apply to current tenancies, or whether they only apply to tenancies that start on or after the 1st October. However in the guide produced by the government, it says that they apply to all tenancies, no matter when they began:
“Do the regulations apply where the premises are let under an existing tenancy? Yes. The regulations will require private sector landlords to install at least one smoke alarm on each storey of the premises, and a carbon monoxide alarm in any room containing a solid fuel burning appliance, with effect from 1 October 2015. ”
You can read the full booklet of guidance here.
