No fire escape route needed in HMO

[Guest MargueritaBr]

We are on the fourth floor of a property which was converted to self-contained flats 1996. We bought a long lease at that time. The other three floors have 2 flats each, making seven flats in all. Four of the flats are one room plus kitchen and bathroom. The remaining three flats are one bedroom. We have a fire exit from our flat to a roof escape. The freeholders now say we do not need that escape route as long as we have heat sensors within each flat. We are concerned since the only escape route for us is four storeys (8sets of stairs) down to the front door. please could you advise.

[Tom Sutton]

The freeholders are the Responsible Person under The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and should have conducted a Fire Risk Assessment. It looks like the FRA has decided that the stairs meets a 30 minute protected route standard, with smoke detectors in the staircase and heat detectors in the hall of each flat. This would mean if a fire starts in an unoccupied flat or smoke enters the staircase, you would be warned immediately and would have 30 minutes in theory to escape.

The question to ask yourself where do you go when you get on the roof?

The definition of a good means of escape is. you should be able to escape to a place of ultimate safety by your own unaided efforts.