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Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarms for Landlords in England

Reviewed: 8 September 2026 | Applies to: conventional private rented homes in England where the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 apply. This is general information, not legal or fire-safety advice for a particular property, tenancy, alarm design or enforcement case.

For an in-scope private rented home in England, the regulations require a smoke alarm on each storey with a room used wholly or partly as living accommodation. They also require a carbon monoxide alarm in a living-accommodation room containing a fixed combustion appliance, other than a gas cooker. A landlord must check prescribed alarms on the day a new tenancy begins and must deal with a reported faulty prescribed alarm as the regulations require. This is an alarm workflow only: it does not replace gas safety, electrical safety, HMO licence, building or wider fire-safety duties.

What alarms are required and where?

The smoke-alarm rule is about storeys. At least one smoke alarm must be equipped on every storey on which there is a room used wholly or partly as living accommodation. The regulations treat a bathroom or lavatory as living accommodation for this purpose, and define a room to include a hall or landing.

The carbon monoxide rule is different. A CO alarm must be equipped in every room used wholly or partly as living accommodation that contains a fixed combustion appliance, except a gas cooker. This is a room-by-room trigger, not a requirement for a CO alarm in every room of the home.

The regulations do not prescribe an alarm type or exact installation position. Follow the alarm manufacturer’s instructions. GOV.UK guidance gives general placement advice, but a property-specific alarm layout or fire-safety decision may need advice from the relevant fire and rescue authority or a suitable professional.

Check the tenancy and property before relying on this guide

This page is deliberately limited to an ordinary private rented home in England. The regulations contain excluded tenancies, including shared accommodation with the landlord or the landlord’s family, long leases and certain specialist accommodation. A licensed HMO can involve a different statutory route and local licence conditions. Do not use this guide to decide whether an exclusion, HMO rule or local requirement applies to a particular address.

Owner-occupied homes and the rules in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are outside this guide. Wider England-led compliance topics are collected in the Landlord Regulation Guide.

Before a new tenancy begins

For a new tenancy, checks must be made by or on behalf of the landlord to ensure that each prescribed alarm is in proper working order on the day the tenancy begins. The regulations define the day a tenancy begins as the day the tenant is entitled to possession under its terms.

For this start-of-tenancy check, a new tenancy is generally one granted on or after 1 October 2022. The definition has exceptions, including some agreements entered into before that date and a tenancy that follows an earlier tenancy with the same landlord, tenant and substantially the same premises. Check the current regulations or obtain advice if the tenancy history is not straightforward.

Keep a simple dated handover record showing the alarms checked, who checked them and that the check was made on the day the tenancy began. GOV.UK suggests that, where an inventory is used on that day, it can record that the required alarms were tested. A record helps organise the tenancy file but does not decide compliance in a disputed case.

During the tenancy: landlord and tenant responsibilities

The landlord’s ongoing duty is triggered where, after a report made on or after 1 October 2022 by the tenant or their nominated representative, a prescribed alarm is found not to be in proper working order. The determination and any required repair or replacement must be carried out by or on behalf of the landlord as soon as reasonably practicable.

GOV.UK guidance advises tenants to replace a battery if an alarm is not working, where they can do so. If it still does not work, or they cannot replace the battery, they should report it to the landlord. That practical guidance does not remove the landlord’s duty to deal with a reported faulty prescribed alarm under the regulations.

Do not set an arbitrary test interval in a tenancy document just because it appears in a generic checklist. The government guidance says landlords should follow the manufacturer’s instructions and consider sharing instructions or a demonstration with tenants. Keep the alarm requirement separate from the annual gas check and record process. For the gas appliance and flue duties themselves, see the gas safety guide for landlords.

Practical alarm handover and fault checklist

  • Confirm the scope: check that the tenancy and property fall within this England alarm regime, rather than assuming it covers every occupation arrangement.
  • Check smoke-alarm coverage: identify each storey with living accommodation and make sure a smoke alarm is equipped there.
  • Check the CO trigger: identify every living-accommodation room with a fixed combustion appliance, remembering that gas cookers are excluded from this particular trigger.
  • Check on the right day: for a new tenancy, ensure each prescribed alarm is working on the day the tenant is entitled to possession.
  • Record the handover: keep a clear dated note or inventory entry of the start-of-tenancy check.
  • Give clear fault-reporting details: tell tenants how to report an alarm that still does not work or whose battery they cannot replace.
  • Respond to a report: arrange the required determination and any repair or replacement as soon as reasonably practicable, then retain a record of the action.

Common mistakes and separate duties

  • Assuming that a CO alarm is required in every room, rather than applying the fixed-combustion-appliance trigger to the relevant living-accommodation room.
  • Treating a gas cooker as the trigger for the CO-alarm rule when the regulations expressly exclude gas cookers from that trigger.
  • Testing only at a later inspection when a new-tenancy check is required on the day the tenant becomes entitled to possession.
  • Leaving a reported faulty prescribed alarm unresolved without arranging the required check and action.
  • Assuming an alarm check is the same as an annual gas safety check, an EICR, an HMO licence condition or a fire-risk assessment.
  • Using this England guide for a lodger arrangement, a long lease, a licensed HMO or a property outside England without checking the separate rules.

Enforcement and advice boundary

Local housing authorities enforce the alarm regulations through the remedial-notice process. A notice, access issue, alleged exclusion, HMO condition or individual fire-safety concern can need property-specific advice. The GOV.UK booklet is a general guide, not an authoritative interpretation of the law. Use the current legislation and official guidance before making a decision about a particular property.

Official sources

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