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£3m fund for smoke and CO alarm roll-out

Fire minister Penny Mordaunt has announced £3 million of funding to enable firefighters to give out smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms to privately rented homes in England.
The funding will provide around 445,000 smoke alarms and 40,000 CO alarms, which will be given free to private sector landlords whose properties currently don’t have them.
The news follows the announcement by housing minister Brandon Lewis that private landlords in England may soon be required by law to install working smoke and CO alarms in their properties.
The new regulations are expected to come into force on 10 October, subject to Parliamentary approval.
Under the measures, landlords would need to install CO alarms in ‘high-risk’ rooms – such as those where a solid fuel heating system is installed. Smoke alarms would have to be installed on every floor of their property, and tested at the start of every tenancy. Landlords who fail to install working alarms could face up to a £5,000 penalty.
Penny Mordaunt said the £3 million boost would “ensure England’s 46 fire and rescue authorities can distribute smoke and carbon monoxide alarms to landlords in their communities, making it easier for them to do the right thing and abide by this new rule”.
The proposed new regulations will apply to England. Plumb and Parts Center’s Gail van Dijk welcomed the changes, but added: “We would like to see them go further and make it mandatory for alarms to be installed when all carbon-burning appliances are changed, which is already the case in Scotland and Northern Ireland. However, we welcome this move as a first step.”
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “We encourage all landlords to ensure their tenants and properties are protected by installing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and are currently considering whether the installation of such alarms should be mandatory in all rented housing.”

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