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

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, in formulating the draft Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (Amendment) Regulations 2022, they considered the impact of carbon monoxide poisoning arising from sources in adjacent properties; and why the draft Regulations do not include a requirement for audible carbon monoxide detectors in bedrooms where there is no fixed combustion appliance, except for gas cookers.

In formulating the draft regulations, the Government considered national statistics on overall numbers of accidental carbon monoxide poisonings. This, and the falling costs of carbon monoxide alarms, supported the case to extend alarm requirements to include social housing, to rooms having fixed combustion appliances in both rented sectors and to rooms where fixed combustion appliances are installed all irrespective of heating fuel (excluding gas cookers). These regulations, which will provide parity between rented sectors, are applicable to dwellings where a landlord has responsibility for internal repairs and maintenance. They do not account for adjacent properties for which the landlord is not responsible. This decision was based on the evidence and the right balance between safety for residents and ensuring regulatory burdens are proportionate.

Requiring alarms in rooms with fixed combustion appliances will help to mitigate risks in other rooms, as alarms will detect and give audible warning of carbon monoxide before it has a chance to spread elsewhere. It would not be proportionate to mandate additional alarms in other rooms, including bedrooms, that do not contain a fixed combustion appliance.