Every year millions of people leave home for the first time and move into their own place, if you are renting then your landlord has certain responsibilities to keep you safe but there are still lots of things that you should know in order to prevent fire and loss of property.
ALWAYS
- Always make sure your cooker and grill are clean before using it, you may not be the only one in the property who uses it so do not assume it is clean
- Always ensure that your electrical devices such as laptops and hair straighteners are unplugged before you go out or go to bed
- Always familierise yourself with your escape route, you are likely to be living in a new building away from home and you need to know the fastest way to get out in an emergency.
NEVER
- Never overload sockets in your house or flat
- Never cook under the influence of alcohol, it’s safer to get a takeaway
- Never put anything metal in the microwave
REMEMBER
- Remember if you are living in private rented accommodation then you should have smoke alarms fitted by your landlord on each level of the property, this may be different for a block of flats and this should be outlined in your tenancy agreement.
Landlord Responsibilities
If you live in private rented property your landlord must comply with the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015.
The regulations require private sector landlords to:
- install smoke alarms on each storey of their property
- install carbon monoxide alarms in the rooms considered most at risk from high levels of carbon monoxide
- Check the alarms are in working order at the start of any new tenancy.
If you are a private tenant and you do not think your landlord has complied with the regulations, you should contact your local housing authority as they are responsible for enforcing the regulations.
The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 place a duty on landlords to make sure that appliances and flues are kept in good order and checked for safety at least once every 12 months. Landlords must also keep a record of previous safety checks and issue the current record to the tenant.
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