Landlords in firing line over tenants’ safety

[muppet]

Hi Guys

I wonder if this could happen in NZ?

Landlords in firing line over tenants’ safety
By Rachel Sharp

LANDLORDS could face closure if they do not provide basic fire prevention equipment for their tenants.

The warning comes from Hillingdon Council after a property in Field End Road, Eastcote, was closed down by the council and fire brigade.

A routine inspection by Hillingdon firefighters revealed that the upper floors of the property, which was living accommodation above a restaurant, lacked basic fire prevention equipment including smoke alarms and fire-resistant doors.

They also found evidence of dangerous electrics.

In his report, the council's housing enforcement officer also noted collapsed ceilings, dampness, broken toilets and showers and deemed the property uninhabitable.

Jeff Maslen, head of housing at Hillingdon Council, said: "The action was taken due to serious concerns about the tenants' safety in the event of a fire. Our private sector housing officers are here to help landlords meet the required standards."

He added: "The council holds regular meetings to remind landlords that there is a legal requirement under the 1985 Housing Act to provide fire escapes and basic fire detection equipment."

The fire brigade issued a notice on the leaseholder, preventing the occupants from staying at the premises until remedial works have been carried out.

The restaurant below the living accommodation remains open and the council has offered guidance to the landlord about how to rectify the problems.

The tenants can go back to occupy the upper floor of the premises.

News source:

http://www.borehamwoodtimes.co.uk

Regards

[graemeh]

Hi Guys

I wonder if this could happen in NZ?

It's already the case. The fire resistant doors have been required for multi unit dwellings for years. Compulsory smoke detectors are a relatively new requirement but if you do anything that requires a permit you have to add them to get code compliance.

The smoke detector requirement is a real pain in any unit titled building, if you get a permit for one unit in the building you need to add smoke detectors for every unit for the building to get it's new code compliance certificate. This is another of those "good ideas" from bureaucrats that is rather hard to achieve in practice.