Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in rented homes: what a letting agent must check at each tenancy start, and the £5,000 penalty

The rule is short. A smoke alarm on every storey that has a living room or bedroom, a carbon monoxide alarm in any room used as living space that contains a fixed combustion appliance, and a check that each one works on the day a new tenancy begins. The council can fine a landlord up to £5,000 if a remedial notice is ignored. Agents carry the checks on the landlord's behalf, so the question for an agency is whether the tenancy-start routine proves them.

What the 2015 regulations say

Regulation 4 requires the landlord to make sure that "a smoke alarm is equipped on each storey of the premises on which there is a room used wholly or partly as living accommodation". It also requires that "checks are 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 if it is a new tenancy". The words "on behalf of" are the reason the check sits in the agent's new-tenancy process.

Regulation 5 gives the landlord 28 days from the day a remedial notice is served to put things right. Regulation 8 sets the cap: "The amount of the penalty charge must not exceed £5,000."

What the 2022 amendment added

Before 1 October 2022 a carbon monoxide alarm was needed only in a room with a solid fuel appliance, such as a wood burner. The 2022 amendment, in force from 1 October 2022, widens this to a room with a "fixed combustion appliance other than a gas cooker". That brings in gas boilers, gas fires and oil boilers when they sit in a room used as living accommodation.

The count for a 40-home book

One alarm per storey means the number of alarms depends on the building:

So at least 85 alarms need a working-order check, and the proof must be dated the day the tenancy starts. If 12 of the 40 tenancies start in a month, that is 12 records a month, each with the number of alarms tested. Carbon monoxide alarms are on top and depend on where boilers and fires sit, which is why the property file should record each appliance and its room.

A day-one routine

1. At check-in, press the test button on every smoke and CO alarm and record the result with a photo or a signed line.
2. Note which rooms hold a boiler, fire or wood burner, and confirm each has a CO alarm.
3. If an alarm fails, replace it the same day and record the date.
4. When a tenant reports a faulty alarm, log the date told and the date fixed.
5. If the council serves a remedial notice, diarise the 28 days from the day of service, not from the day you saw it.

These steps belong beside the other day-one items in our new tenancy checklist and on the 2026 compliance checklist. The date tracker holds the recurring gas, electrical and EPC dates.

What this does not cover

These are the England rules. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland each have their own. We have not read the exemptions for particular tenancy types, so check the regulations if a property is a licensed house in multiple occupation or social housing.

Overlyft can set up an AI assistant that builds the day-one alarm record from the check-in report, flags a tenancy that has no test line and gives the negotiator a list to chase before keys are handed over. The negotiator signs off every record.

This is general information for England, not legal advice.