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New national guidance for private rented properties aimed at reducing the 300,000 fires in residential properties which kill more than 300 people a year, has been published.
The guidance, ‘Housing – Fire Safety’, was developed by local government standards body LACORS, the Chief Fire Officers’ Association and the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health. It provides guidelines on how to keep residential properties safe from fire, explains how to carry out a fire risk assessment, and includes a range of case studies.
The guidance applies to existing residential accommodation including single family houses, bedsits, shared houses and flats, but does not apply to new housing built to current building regulations. It explains the legislation relating to fire safety in both the Housing Act 2004 and the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, and is said to be the first such national guidance to set out a risk based approach that will satisfy both pieces of legislation.
“With so much potentially confusing fire safety legislation now in force, this new LACORS guidance creates a single document setting out landlords’ obligations,” said David Salusbury, chairman of the National Landlords Association. “Many landlords want to know what they need to install because they are following good practice and want to avoid the need for enforcement. Although the guidance will not remove the need for enforcement at times, landlords can now find out what they need to do to comply with the law.”