Smoke alarms in rented homes may become law

AN MP is pushing for a new law which would lead to all rented homes being equipped with smoke alarms, following a tragic fire in Derbyshire.

Adrian Sanders said he was "shocked and appalled" by the blaze in Hulland Ward last month, which saw three young children die in a devastating house fire.

The Torbay MP is currently trying to get his Fire Safety (Protection of Tenants) Bill, which would make smoke alarms a legal requirement in all rented properties, on to the statue book.

The figures showed that of the 944 accidental house fires tackled by the service since April 2009, 206 houses had smoke alarms that were not working correctly and 224 had no alarms at all.

In the same period, nine people lost their lives in fires. Three of those houses had no smoke alarms at all, two had faulty alarms and there has been no evidence to suggest the house in Hulland Ward had a working alarm either.

proposals want to make it clear that it is both the landlord's and the tenant's responsibility to make their home safer.

The bill's second reading is scheduled to take place in Parliament on Friday, April 2.