Fire safety in flats in England: a guide for residents
If your building has fire safety issues
Your building owner, managing agent or landlord must tell you:
- what fire safety checks were carried out
- what work is planned to make the building safe
- when this work will happen
Work may include:
- detailed fire safety checks
- urgent work to reduce immediate risk such as temporary fire alarms or extra fire wardens
- longer-term planned work to fix problems such as replacing unsafe materials on the outside of the building known as cladding
- changes to fire safety arrangements such as evacuation plans
In some cases, you may need to leave the building while work is carried out.
Who is responsible for fixing fire safety problems
The building owner is usually responsible for fixing fire safety problems.
This could be:
- a freeholder
- a management company
- a Right to Manage company
- a housing association
- a local council
Developers or builders may be responsible for fixing problems they caused.
You are responsible for fire safety inside your own home.
What to do if your building is not being made safe
A remediation order can be used to make a building owner fix major fire safety problems like cladding.
Apply for a remediation order.
Who pays to fix fire safety problems
Who pays to fix fire safety problems depends on your housing situation.
If you rent your home
You should not normally be charged directly for fire safety repairs. If you think these costs are being passed on to you through your rent, you can get advice or challenge this.
If you own your home
Most leaseholders will not have to pay anything towards the cost of fixing major fire safety problems (like cladding).
If you have a qualifying lease, you are protected from paying towards the costs for making your building safe. This includes a cap to the amount you may be asked to contribute through a service charge.
You can check if you’ll have to pay to fix safety problems.
In some cases, the law prevents building owners from passing other historical fire safety repair costs on to leaseholders. This depends on the type of building and your lease.
You may be responsible for paying for smaller fire safety measures like fire doors. Check your contract to find out.
What to do if work is not being paid for
A remediation contribution order can be used to make a building owner or developer pay to fix issues they have caused.