Coroner calls for hard-wired smoke alarms in all rental properties

Landlords be aware.

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23 Aug 2012

A coroner has called on the government to change the law on smoke alarms and force private landlords to install hard-wired devices in all rental accommodation.
Penelope Schofield, coroner for West Sussex, said too many elderly and vulnerable people are dying in house fires in rented homes without working smoke alarms.
Speaking to the BBC she cited three cases in her county in the last two years. The victims were aged 64, 65 and 87 and were all living in private rented accommodation.
She said none of them had batteries in their smoke alarms, and pointed out that elderly people often forget to replace them or do not realise the batteries are dead.
Making it a legal requirement for landlords to install hard-wired smoke alarms that are connected to the mains could save countless lives, she insisted.
It is not the first time such calls have been made. In 2010 Liberal Democrat MP Adrian Sanders introduced a private members bill requiring all rented properties to have hard-wired smoke detection and warning systems in place at the beginning of a tenancy agreement.
But it failed to complete its passage through parliament and as such was thrown out, with ministers claiming it would add to the burden of regulation already on landlords.

Commenting on these latest calls, Graham Ellicott, chief executive of the Fire Industry Association, said: "The government had the opportunity to do something about this via Adrian Sanders' proposed Fire Safety (Protection of Tenants) Bill but chose not to and meanwhile people are still dying unnecessarily.
"It's time for them to take a lead on this matter rather than hiding behind the extra regulation excuse that is trotted out whenever there's a decision that needs taking."

From:  @Fireindustry