We previously reported on the Government's response to the
earlier consultation paper and confirmation that legislation will
be introduced to require that all social housing should be fitted with smoke
alarms and carbon monoxide alarms.
In making the announcement the Government said the new
requirements will commence "as soon as practicable after the
legislation is made" and although the Government acknowledged that
a phased approach would help landlords to implement the changes,
they argued that the process of passing the new regulations through
Parliament would provide a sufficient period for landlords to
comply before they come into effect.
ARCH has been contacted by officials at the Department for
Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (DLUHC) to advise that they
are very keen to explore, at pace, the readiness of social
landlords in meeting the recent announcement that the Government
intend to mandate smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms in social
housing.
ARCH Chief Executive John Bibby comments:
"The Government first consulted on proposals to require the
mandatory installation of smoke alarms in November 2020 and then
took some 12 months to issue their response to that consultation".
"Most local authority landlords already have programmes of
installing smoke alarms in council housing, but to expect that
every single dwelling will be fully compliant immediately on the
passing of the required new regulations is a tall order and ARCH
will be arguing that whilst the installation of smoke alarms should
be a priority in landlords' planned maintenance programmes, the
Government must allow a reasonable implementation period to enable
social landlords to arrange for the necessary works and ensure
compliance".
We will be writing to ARCH member councils to seek their views
and comments to help inform our response to DLUHC on the
implementation timetable.