Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that recommended fire safety standards are met in private sector housing.

All homes should be of a reasonable standard and all tenants should have a safe place to live. Under the Landlord and Tennant Act 1985, landlords have a general obligation to ensure that they keep in repair the structure and exterior of any property they rent out. Local authorities have strong and effective powers to deal with poor quality unsafe accommodation and we expect them to use those powers. Under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, local authorities can issue an Improvement Notice or a Hazard Awareness Notice if they find a defect in the property. In extreme circumstances, the local authority may decide to make repairs themselves, or to prohibit that property from being rented out.

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 places a duty on housing providers to undertake a fire risk assessment of the common parts of their properties and to put in place and maintain adequate fire precautions to manage the risk that lives could be lost in a fire. The Order is enforced by fire and rescue authorities.