1st Oct New fire regs for holiday accommodation

[mummymeister]

AIBU to think that if you own a holiday property, even one where you only let it out for a few weeks of the year because the rest of the time its your second home, that you should know about these new requirements which are going to be the law in less than a month?

I work in tourism and have for well over 25 years and cannot believe the number of people who own a holiday let, yurt, caravan, cottage, house etc that have absolutely no clue that there is a legal requirement to comply from 1st October 2023.

Holiday let owners will need
*written fire risk assessments
*simple latch or thumb turns on all exit doors (so not with a key)
*hard wired linked smoke alarms in rooms including bedrooms
*emergency lighting like torches

and a host of other things. Holiday lets are a huge investment yet people seem to not want to keep up with the laws and the various changes. If they dont then their business insurances are invalidated and why would you risk it? Just amazed really that its not really being talked about more by the Online travel agents like airbnb and agencies including visit england.

YANBU but look at the outrage at tenants enforcing their legal rights on an AST such as putting the deposit in a proper scheme.

That has been around for 15 years and loads of landlords claim not to know about it.

Will the various holiday let sites ensure their rentals meet the standard?

Which country?

Yes, I can agree with that. But the legislation was published in March 2023 and in force from the 1st October. if you own a business, any business, then it is your responsibility to keep up with any legal changes that affect you. Not to sit back and expect someone to write to you personally to tell you about them as some holiday let owners are doing. They own big expensive properties and think its all up to the agents to sort out. Whereas, under this regulation it specifically isnt the buck stops with them. Just amazed really that you invest £100s of thousands into something and then dont take care of your investment.

England and Wales but something similar in Scotland too.

@mumda they dont seem to be even telling owners and just think its up to them to sort it out as its not their responsibility.

I used to run a large tourism business. I still belong to a tourism association (its like a self help group, membership is free) I have no paid role in the industry or any industry for that matter as I am now retired. why do you ask?

Interesting about the no-key exit doors. I'm guessing anyone who has a letterbox in the door will also need to cage it to prevent easy burglar entry!

What are the penalties for not complying? I'm wondering if people will stay, then claim money back as it was deemed unsafe.

@Peonyblush81 newly retired (18 months) and still belong to the tourism association and on a number of holiday property owners forums. You dont just stop caring about an industry the minute you retire you know and your brain doesnt go to mush either. :-) there are penalties for non compliance which I am just trying to find and will post when I do.

I've had full and detailed information from our letting agent. We already have a Fure Safety plan which is kept in our information folder on site. I need to get to grips with the new one and work out if we need any new locks etc

@Davros oh thats great news to hear. Hopefully your holiday letting agent is on the ball for you. Lots of big issues to think of and as its the biggest change to furnished holiday lettings for many years I am glad to see that at least one letting agent is on the ball. You have two years for the hard wired linked smoke alarms but many people dont have them in all bedrooms which seems to be an issue. Just so long as you dont have open plan downstairs or more than two storeys then the latest guidance applies otherwise its a matter of waiting until the next set comes out. Good luck with your holiday lets!

There must be exemptions to this if you have a listed property for example?

No there arent. You still have to comply but you might have to put in things like misting systems etc. Having a listed building isnt a get out of jail free card for fire safety and never has been. The national trust have some useful practical experience on this. The whole guidance came as a result of the Grenfell fire and really seems no wriggle room for compromise because of this.

This is one reason why i could never be a landlord!

@gillygeey these are holiday properties. so sometimes people fall into this having inheirited someone elses house that they let out for holidays. Or buy something as a second home, find they dont go as often as they thought/used to so then let it out. In some holiday areas, people move out of their homes, live in a caravan or tent somewhere else and let their homes out for 6/8 weeks of the school hols for thousands a week. I must admit, I am glad to be retired from it all now.

Can you provide a link to the information please

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/making-your-small-paying-guest-accommodation-safe-from-fire this is the link you then need to click to download. Its quite long but there are pictures at the back of common layouts.

Thank you very much 😊

Wow. This is pretty onerous especially the hard wired smoke alarms in every bedroom, that’s major work.

Whose responsibility is it to enforce it though? I can’t see any authority wanting to put a large chunk of budget towards going round checking holiday homes?

(I don’t have a holiday let by the way)

@minipie so the enforcement is with the fire authority. but if you dont comply with the legislation then your insurance (which is for business with different business clauses in it ) is invalidated. If you have a fire, the first thing your insurer will do is ask to see your fire risk assessment and will check to see that all the works in your property are up to the standard in the regulations. if they arent then they dont have to pay out. we had a fire and our insurer went through every bit of safety information with a fine toothed comb before deciding to pay out. we were fully compliant then, we knew that we were but it was still pretty awful. Our local fire authority is going to be doing some spot checks and I imagine some prosecutions that will make the news. They are also going to react to complaints from guests and other owners!