Fire safety in HMOs: alarms, fire doors, escape routes, emergency lighting and risk assessments

Who is responsible for fire safety in an HMO

In an HMO the landlord or the person managing it carries the duty. Under the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006, the manager must keep all means of escape from fire free from obstruction and maintained in good order and repair. The manager must also keep fire fighting equipment and fire alarms in good working order.

The manager must display notices showing the location of means of escape where they are clearly visible to occupiers. That notice duty does not apply where the HMO has four or fewer occupiers. The regulations also require the manager to take measures reasonably needed to protect occupiers from injury, having regard to the design, structure and number of occupiers.

If the HMO is a purpose built or converted block containing separate flats, the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 applies to the common parts. In that case the person in control of the building is a responsible person with extra recording duties. Letting agents who manage on a landlord's behalf often take on day to day tasks, but the contract should say clearly who does what.

There is no single national standard, so check your council

Fire precautions in HMOs are assessed property by property. Many councils publish their own minimum standards, often based on older national LACORS guidance. Lambeth, for example, sets out different minimum standards for a single storey flat in multiple occupation, a shared house of no more than two storeys, and a bedsit type HMO of three or four storeys.

Westminster takes a similar approach. It points out that its older housing stock, with many conversions, often needs enhanced measures, and that both the council and the London Fire Brigade act as enforcing authorities. It recommends a simple fire risk assessment that considers layout, structure and use.

Because standards vary, the safest route is to read your own council's HMO fire safety guidance before buying equipment or ordering works. If your property does not fit neatly into a category, speak to the council's housing team or your local fire and rescue service.

The fire risk assessment

A fire risk assessment identifies who could be harmed, what could start or spread a fire, how people would be warned, and how they would get out. It is the document that justifies every other precaution in the property, so it should come first.

Since 1 October 2023, section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022 requires responsible persons under the Fire Safety Order to record their completed fire risk assessment in full. They must also record the identity of whoever carried it out, and record their fire safety arrangements. This applies to the non domestic parts of multi occupied residential buildings, such as communal corridors and stairs.

For a standard house shared by tenants, the Fire Safety Order may not apply in the same way, but the council will still expect a risk based approach, and an assessment is good evidence of management. Whoever writes it should be competent. If the property is large, complex, or has vulnerable occupiers, use a qualified fire risk assessor.

Review the assessment when anything material changes. Typical triggers are a change in layout, a loft conversion, extra bedrooms, a new kitchen arrangement, or a fire incident. Keep the document with your licence paperwork.

Fire detection and alarms

At the very least, private landlords must provide a smoke alarm on each storey used as living accommodation, and a carbon monoxide alarm in rooms with a fixed combustion appliance, excluding gas cookers. Our separate guide on smoke and carbon monoxide alarms covers those rules.

HMOs normally need more than the minimum. Councils commonly expect an interlinked system, graded under British Standard 5839 part 6. Lambeth's minimum standards, for instance, list a Grade D1 LD2 system for smaller shared houses and a Grade A LD1 system with detection throughout the escape route for three and four storey bedsit type HMOs.

Kitchens normally call for heat detection rather than smoke detection, because cooking can set smoke alarms off. Where cooking facilities sit inside bedsits, standards tend to rise, because the risk of fire starting in a sleeping room is higher.

• Ask the council which grade and category of system it expects for your layout.
• Use an installer who will issue a commissioning certificate.
• Service larger systems at least as often as the installer or standard recommends, and keep the records.
• Test and log any weekly or monthly checks you or your agent carry out.

Fire doors

Fire doors slow the spread of fire and smoke so that people can reach a safe exit. A 30 minute fire door, usually marked FD30, is the typical standard for risk rooms in an HMO. The S suffix means it also has smoke seals.

Lambeth's standards, as an example, ask for FD30S doors with self closers and intumescent seals to kitchens and living rooms in smaller shared houses, and to all bedrooms in larger bedsit type HMOs. In some smaller properties it accepts solid, sound, close fitting bedroom doors instead, but it will not accept thin panel or hollow doors.

A fire door only works as a complete set. The leaf, frame, hinges, closer, seals and glazing all matter, and a poor repair can undo the rating. Check that doors close fully on their own, that seals are intact, and that nobody has wedged them open.

The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 add specific fire door checks for blocks of flats. If the top storey is more than 11 metres above ground level, the responsible person must use best endeavours to check flat entrance doors at least every 12 months, and communal fire doors at least every 3 months. A typical house HMO is outside that rule, but the same discipline is sensible.

Escape routes and means of escape

The escape route is usually the hall, stairs and landing leading to the final exit. It has to be kept clear at all times. Bikes, pushchairs, shoes, post, furniture and rubbish are the most common problems, and the 2006 regulations specifically require escape routes to be kept free from obstruction.

Final exit doors should be openable from inside without a key, normally by a thumb turn lock. Windows used as an escape from upper rooms need to be openable and large enough, and some councils have detailed requirements for them.

Inner rooms, where the only way out passes through another room, are a particular concern. Councils have specific guidance on them, and you should speak to them before converting space.

Regular inspections catch obstructions early. Walk the escape route at each visit, photograph it, and write down what you saw.

Emergency lighting and signage

Emergency lighting is not required in every HMO. It is more likely to be expected in larger properties, where the escape route is long or complex, or where borrowed light is poor. The council or fire risk assessor will say whether it is needed.

Westminster's HMO licensing FAQs note that fire alarm and emergency lighting certificates are only required if the systems are already provided in the property. It also says a fire alarm certificate will not normally be required for many small HMOs that do not have a system needing professional servicing.

Where emergency lighting is installed, test it. A short monthly flick test and a full duration test once a year are the usual pattern under British Standard 5266. Keep a log book.

Escape signs are required where the manager must display notices showing the location of means of escape, which means HMOs with more than four occupiers.

Fire fighting equipment, furniture and electrics

GOV.UK says a landlord must provide fire alarms and extinguishers if the property is a large HMO. Smaller HMOs often have a fire blanket in the shared kitchen, and councils will specify the type. Equipment must be serviced and in working order, as the 2006 regulations require.

Furniture and furnishings supplied by the landlord must meet fire safety standards. Upholstered items should carry a permanent label. Be careful with second hand furniture made after 1950, which is also in scope.

Electrical faults are a common cause of fires, so keep your electrical installation condition report up to date and check portable appliances you supply. Those requirements are covered in our guides on EICRs and in the certificate checklist.

Records, routines and when to get help

Inspectors and licensing officers look for evidence. A tidy file should hold the fire risk assessment, alarm certificates and service reports, emergency lighting test records, fire door inspection notes, extinguisher service tags, and your own routine inspection log.

A simple routine helps. Walk the common parts at each inspection, check alarms, check doors, and report defects to the right contractor straight away. Give tenants clear written instructions on what to do in a fire and not to prop doors or block routes.

This guide is general information, checked October 2026, and not legal advice. For licence conditions, speak to the local council. For enforcement or prosecution risk, take advice from a solicitor. For the assessment and the technical specification, use a qualified fire risk assessor and a competent fire alarm installer.