Time is running out for landlords to have a say about fire safety in houses in multiple occupation.
Key guidance is due for rewriting and the editorial team wants to hear comments and suggestions about improving the contents from landlords.
The LACORS Housing – Fire Safety guide is considered the national fire safety bible for shared homes.
The guidance lays down check-lists and outlines the law for landlords and fire services to use for fire safety risk assessments of HMO properties.
But the 80-page book was written in 2008 under the auspices of LACORS – the Local Authority Coordinators of Regulatory Services – which no longer exists following government spending cuts.
Much of the guide’s content needs revising to reflect changes in fire safety and housing laws during the intervening decade.
Richard Tacagni, who was involved in publishing the original guide, said: “Having chaired the project group that developed the original LACORS fire safety guidance, I welcome the proposal to review and update what remains an extremely useful guide. What we need is a refresh of the guidance rather than a complete rewrite.
“For this project to succeed, it is vital that all key stakeholder groups are involved in the review process, including local government, fire chiefs, landlords and letting agents. Only by securing buy-in from all key stakeholders can we hope to secure government endorsement for any amended guidance.”
A template for comments is available online, together with the current edition of the guidance.
Completed comments should be sent by email by October 1, 2019.
