Landlord responsibility for smoke and carbon monoxide detectors

The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm Regulations impose a legal requirement on private and social landlords to fit smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.[1]

Gas safety regulations require landlords to maintain and inspect gas appliances, and provide a copy of the inspection to tenants. A gas safety inspection could reveal appliances that carry a risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Read more about gas safety in rented homes on Shelter Legal.

Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS)

A tenant of a private landlord or housing association can report fire and carbon monoxide hazards to their local authority. Where appropriate, the authority should inspect accommodation under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS).

In the HHSRS Operating Guidance, provision of smoke alarms is covered under the fire and explosions hazard. Carbon monoxide detectors are covered under the indoor air pollutants hazard.[2]

Find out more about local authority duties to inspect homes and assess hazards on Shelter Legal.

Fire and carbon monoxide hazards in social housing

A social landlord has a duty to investigate and make safe an emergency hazard within 24 hours. This is known as Awaab's law. A fire and carbon monoxide safety risk can be an emergency hazard.

Find out more about hazards in social housing on Shelter Legal.

A private or social landlord must ensure that there is:

• a smoke alarm on each storey of a property which contains a room being used, wholly or partly, as 'living accommodation'

• a carbon monoxide alarm in any room being used as 'living accommodation' where there is a 'fixed combustion appliance', other than a gas cooker

Before 1 October 2022, the requirement for a carbon monoxide alarm only applied to rooms where solid fuel was used.

Which tenancies are covered

The requirements apply to both private and social landlords. The rules were introduced for private rented sector landlords on 1 October 2015.[3] They were extended to social landlords from 1 October 2022, including private registered providers of social housing (PRPSHs) and local authorities.[4]

The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm Regulations cover both tenancies and licenses.[5]

Definitions under the regulations

A mezzanine floor is not considered a storey.[6] 'Living accommodation' includes bathrooms and toilets.

A 'room' for the purpose of the regulations relating to carbon monoxide detectors includes a hall and a landing.

Guidance defines a 'fixed combustion appliance' as fixed apparatus where fuel of any type (such as gas, oil, coal, or wood) is burned to generate heat. This includes gas or oil boilers, and log-burning stoves.[7]

If a gas appliance is found to be dangerous during the annual inspection required under the gas safety regulations, this must be reported to the landlord and tenant, and its disconnection arranged.

Read the smoke and carbon monoxide alarm guidance for landlords and tenants on Gov.uk.

The regulations do not specify the type of alarm to be used. Landlords should make an informed decision and choose the best alarms for their properties and tenants. A landlord can choose whether to use a hard-wired or battery-powered model.

Landlords can decide where to place an alarm within the property, but should follow the product manufacturer's guidance.

In general, a smoke alarm should be fitted to the ceiling in a position where air circulates, such as a hall or a landing. Carbon monoxide detectors should be placed at head height, on a wall or shelf, approximately one to three metres away from a potential source of the gas.

A heat detector is not a replacement for a smoke alarm.

Read government advice on choosing, fitting and testing smoke alarms on Gov.uk.

Advice on installation of alarms might also be available from a local fire service.

Specialist alarms for deaf and hard of hearing occupiers

Landlords have a duty under the Equality Act 2010 to provide auxiliary aids on request in certain circumstances to avoid discriminating against a disabled person. A specialist smoke or carbon monoxide alarm that alerts by vibration or flashing light may be classed as an auxiliary aid.

Find out more about reasonable adjustments for disabled people on Shelter Legal.

Where a landlord does not agree to provide a specialist alarm, an occupier can contact the:

• local fire and rescue service

• local social services sensory team

Where a property is occupied under a tenancy or licence (regardless of start date), landlords must ensure that an alarm is in proper working order when it is first installed.

A landlord must check that the alarms in the property are working properly at the start of a new tenancy or licence. A new tenancy (or licence) does not include a renewal, or a statutory periodic tenancy arising when a fixed term ends.[8]

The tenant or licensee is responsible for testing the alarm(s) during the tenancy/licence. They should contact the landlord if an alarm stops working to arrange for new batteries or a replacement alarm.

Landlords must ensure that the alarm is repaired or replaced as soon as reasonably practicable after a report that an alarm is faulty.[9]

These requirements apply to both private and social landlords. For social landlords (including local authorities), the requirements came into force from 1 October 2022.

The requirements under the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm Regulations do not apply to:

• resident landlords

• HMO landlords, as the HMO licence imposes an obligation to install safety equipment

• tenancies granted for a fixed-term of seven years or more, known as long leases

• student halls of residence (but government approved codes of practice stipulate a minimum standard of smoke alarm installation and regular testing)

• hostels and refuges

• care homes, hospitals and other healthcare-related accommodation

Some occupiers of accommodation where the landlord is exempt already benefit from protection against the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning and fire. This applies to hostels, refuges, student halls, hospitals and care homes.[10]

A local housing authority must serve a remedial notice where it has reason to believe that a landlord has not complied with the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations, or has not taken all reasonable steps to comply. The notice contains conditions that the landlord must meet.

If a landlord fails to comply with the terms of the notice within 28 days, the authority must take action to ensure that tenants are protected by working alarms. It may also impose a penalty charge on the landlord.[11]

A landlord may appeal to the First-tier Tribunal against the imposition or amount of a penalty.[12]

A PRPSH landlord who is aware that they are non-compliant with the regulations is expected to self-refer to the Regulator of Social Housing.[13]

A local authority cannot take enforcement action against itself as a landlord but is still subject to these requirements. A local authority who has not complied with the regulations could be subject to judicial review.