FireSure Compliance Ltd

An HMO licence changes your compliance obligations overnight. A lot of landlords don’t realise it.

We were booked in for the annual fire alarm service on a flat in Salford. What we weren’t told was that the property had since been granted an HMO licence, and that brings stricter detection requirements with it.

The existing system covered the hallway, living room and kitchen. But there was no detector in the bedrooms, which meant the property was non-compliant the moment that licence was issued.

We fitted detectors in every bedroom and radio-linked them straight into the existing system, so the whole flat now works as one interlinked setup to BS 5839-6 and meets the licensing conditions. No upheaval, no ripping the old kit out.

If a property in your portfolio has gone HMO, the alarm spec almost certainly needs to change with it. We sort exactly this for letting agents and landlords across Greater Manchester every week. Drop us a message.

LettingAgent PropertyCompliance FireAlarm Salford GreaterManchester

Summer tenancy changeover is underway, and it is the time of year when resident fire information is most likely to slip through the cracks.

Under the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, the responsible person in any building with two or more sets of domestic premises must provide residents with fire safety instructions, the evacuation strategy, and fire door information. This must happen at move-in and be refreshed at least every 12 months.

A single welcome letter is not enough. You need a documented process that shows who received what, and when.

Fire Sure Compliance supports letting agents and landlords across Greater Manchester with exactly this kind of structured, evidenced compliance. Get in touch to make sure your managed buildings are covered before the summer rush is over.

🔥 We’ve done a lot of HMO fire risk assessments recently.

Here’s what we keep finding.

Most landlords think their property is compliant. The reality is usually different. 👇

The most common findings:

🚪 Fire doors — missing self-closers, no intumescent strips, gaps in the frame. A fire door that doesn’t close isn’t a fire door.

🚨 Detection — battery alarms in a multi-storey HMO instead of a mains-interlinked Grade D or Grade A system. Not compliant under BS 5839-6.

🪜 Escape routes — combustible items stored in stairwells and corridors. In a three-storey HMO, that’s a serious problem.

💡 Emergency lighting — missing, untested, or never serviced. If the power fails during a fire, your tenants need to see the escape route.

🪧 Signage — no fire action notices, no assembly point, no extinguisher signage. Low cost. High consequence if it’s missing.

🧯 Extinguishers — wrong type, wrong location, or years out of service.

None of these are obscure requirements. They’re the basics. But we find gaps in nearly every property we inspect.

⚠️ If your HMO hasn’t had an assessment in the last 12 months, it’s probably overdue.

Fire Sure Compliance — Greater Manchester.

Not an HMO? You may still need a fire risk assessment.

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 covers the common parts of any building with two or more domestic premises. That includes purpose-built flats and converted buildings that sit below the HMO licensing threshold.

If you are the responsible person for a building with shared corridors, stairwells, or communal areas, the duty to carry out, document, and review a fire risk assessment applies to you.

A proportionate assessment for a smaller building does not need to be lengthy, but it does need to be documented, assign responsibility for actions, and be reviewed after significant changes.

Fire Sure Compliance supports letting agents and landlords across Greater Manchester with fire risk assessments tailored to their buildings. Contact us to find out where your obligations sit.

Summer is the highest-risk season for HMO communal areas, and tenancy changeover makes it worse.

Bin stores heat up. Corridors fill with boxes and bags. Fire doors get propped open to let air through. Each of these is a compliance failure under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, and enforcement officers in Greater Manchester are looking for exactly this.

The responsible person must keep escape routes clear of combustible materials at all times. That duty does not pause for summer.

Now is the time to inspect bin stores, check fire doors, clear corridors, and review your fire risk assessment if occupancy or use has changed.

Fire Sure Compliance supports letting agents, landlords, and HMO operators across Greater Manchester. Get in touch to book a communal-area inspection or fire risk assessment before the season peaks.

Having an EICR is not enough on its own.

Under the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020, landlords must also complete remedial works within 28 days of an unsatisfactory report and provide written confirmation to the local housing authority within 28 days of those works being finished.

An invoice is not sufficient. The regulations require proper electrical certification. And with peak tenancy changeover approaching, unresolved C1 or C2 observations on inherited properties can become a serious compliance problem very quickly.

Failure to meet the remedial-work duties can result in a financial penalty of up to £30,000.

Fire Sure Compliance supports letting agents and landlords across Greater Manchester with electrical compliance audits and documentation. Get in touch to make sure your portfolio is fully evidenced, not just inspected.

Tenancy changeover season is here, and alarm compliance is one of the checks that cannot wait until after move-in.

The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 require smoke alarms on every storey and a carbon monoxide alarm in any room with a fixed combustion appliance, including gas boilers. Both must be confirmed as working on day one of every new tenancy.

For letting agents managing properties across multiple landlords, having a consistent, documented process at each changeover is what separates a compliant portfolio from a liability.

Fire Sure Compliance supports letting agents and landlords across Greater Manchester with the checks, documentation, and guidance you need at every tenancy start. Speak to our team today.

If your HMO has emergency lighting fitted in the common areas, the next question is whether you have a documented testing regime to match.

BS 5266-1 requires monthly functional tests, six-monthly partial duration tests, and an annual three-hour full discharge test. All results must be recorded in a logbook. The Responsible Person, usually the licence holder, is accountable for ensuring those tests happen and that records are kept.

Where a managing agent handles day-to-day compliance, the management agreement needs to be clear about who commissions and records each test. That clarity matters most when a fire authority comes asking.

Fire Sure Compliance supports letting agents and landlords across Greater Manchester with structured emergency lighting maintenance programmes. Get in touch to find out how we can help.

If you manage furnished rental properties in Greater Manchester, portable appliance safety is worth a close look before the summer re-letting season gets underway.

PAT testing is not a fixed annual legal requirement, but that does not mean it can be ignored. The IET Code of Practice 5th Edition sets out a risk-based approach, and a visual inspection at every tenancy changeover is the minimum expected practice. Agents who take on full management functions may share responsibility for appliance safety alongside the landlord, particularly where appliances are supplied as part of a furnished let.

The Electrical Safety Standards Regulations cover fixed wiring through the EICR process. Portable appliances are a separate matter, and that is where many agents have a gap in their compliance position.

Fire Sure Compliance supports letting agents and landlords across Greater Manchester with PAT testing, EICRs, and broader compliance planning. Speak to our team before the busy season begins.

New fire safety regulations are now in force, and HMO operators need to act.

The Fire Safety (Residential Evacuation Plans) (England) Regulations 2025 came into force on 6 April 2026. As a Responsible Person, you must proactively identify tenants who may need help evacuating, offer them a person-centred fire risk assessment, and keep those records up to date throughout the tenancy. A one-off survey at sign-up is not enough.

With enforcement checks already starting and summer lets approaching, now is the right time to review your process.

Fire Sure Compliance supports letting agents, landlords, and HMO operators across Greater Manchester. Get in touch to make sure your properties are compliant before your next tenancy begins.