David Cox, managing director at the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA), comments on the passing of the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 in Parliament: “Whilst ARLA is entirely supportive of the aims of the regulations, we remain concerned that the Government has ignored calls from across the Private Rented Sector to reconsider the timeframe for its implementation.
“Following final scrutiny of the measures in the House of Lords, landlords have until the 1st October 2015 to ensure that all tenancies have a smoke alarm fitted on every floor of their property where there is a room used wholly or partly as living accommodation. They will also be required to put a carbon monoxide alarm in any room where a solid fuel is burnt.
“Whilst these measures are entirely sensible, ARLA is concerned that landlords will not have enough time to comply with the requirements, as it is simply impracticable for letting agents, who may manage a huge amount of properties, to gain access to the properties and to install these alarms on behalf of their clients in the time frame allotted.”
