NLA welcomes fire safety guidance for landlords

The National Landlords Association (NLA), the UK's leading representative for landlords, has welcomed new national guidance aimed at preventing the 300 deaths per year caused by residential property fires.

David Salusbury, Chairman, National Landlords Association, in welcoming the new guidance, said: "With so much potentially confusing fire safety legislation now in force, this new LACORS guidance creates a single document setting out landlords' obligations. 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.

"Fire safety legislation applies to all types of housing, whether it is owner-occupied, rented, single occupancy or a house in multiple occupation. The new LACORS guidance sets out recommendations for all these categories and with the inclusion of a foreword by a minister, should be considered official guidance.

"Fire safety in rented property, particularly in HMOs, has long been a vexed subject. Tales abound of landlords feeling aggrieved by what they regard as inflexible environmental health departments forcing them to incorporate unnecessary and expensive fire safety measures in their rental property, often with a detrimental effect on the appearance of the building. The launch of the new national fire safety guidance is testament to what can be achieved by dialogue and cooperation. We welcome the production of the LACORS guidance that landlords should regard as sensible and overdue."

The guidance was jointly developed by the Local Authority Coordinators of Regulatory Services (LACORS), the Chief Fire Officers' Association (CFOA), the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH), with support from Communities and Local Government. The National Landlords Association sat on the steering group directing the production of the guidance. For more information go to lacors.gov.uk