Landlord excempt from fire safety legislation?

[Guest Commander]

From your website I see that domestic property is exempt from the fire safety legislation. I am a resident landlord with two lodgers. As such, am I also exempt? I know that I am not an HMO and believe that I am exempt. I have carried out a fire risk assessment (very low with low hazard score) but would like to know the legal position.

[Tom Sutton]

I am not a legal expert but as a domestic premises you are not subject to The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 but you are subject to other regulations checkout http://www.landlordz...rent-a-room.htm and see the section on Health and Safety. You also have a moral duty of care to your lodgers and I would suggest you implement the guidance in http://www.cieh.org/...guidance_08.pdf to ensure your premises meet a reasonable fire safety standard.

[Ryan Mcmullan]

Hi

First may I ask how you came to the conclusion you are not classed as an HMO? from my interpretation of artical 254 of the Housing Act 2004 I would say that you are classed as a HMO, though this doesn't mean that you will have to obtain a licence

[Tom Sutton]

A resident landlord can have two lodgers/renters living with them and not be a HMO.

Schedule 14 of the Act exempts from the definition of HMO an owner-occupier and his/her family, who are living with one or two lodgers, as follows:

Buildings not HMO's (excluding Part 1)

Schedule 14, 6,1c no more than such number of other persons as is specified for the purposes of this paragraph in regulations made by the appropriate national authority.”

The regulations by the appropriate national authority is Statutory Instrument 373/2006, whereby section 6(2) of the above SI states, The number of persons specified for the purposes of paragraph 6(1)c of Schedule 14 to the Act is two.

So if there are three or more lodgers in addition to the landlord and his/her family, the property will be defined as an HMO.