Smoke alarm safety call as North Lanarkshire prepares for changes to housing law

Planning is now underway in North Lanarkshire to prepare for the changes made to housing law relating to smoke and heat detectors in council homes.
By John A. MacInnes
Published 11th Jun 2019, 11:57 BST

In North Lanarkshire these changes will affect over 36,500 council homes across the area, and landlords have been given a two year period to carry out the upgrades.

The council must be fully compliant with these changes by 2021 and are currently developing an installation programme to do this

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Key changes include: At least one smoke alarm installed in the room used most for daily living; one smoke alarm in the hallway and landing areas on each storey; a minimum of one heat alarm installed in every kitchen; all alarms should be ceiling mounted and interlinked, and carbon monoxide detectors installed in all homes.

“This is an extensive installation programme,” explained Brian Lafferty, head of Housing Property. “We’re preparing our plans to make these changes, required by legislation, that will further enhance tenant safety and continue to improve the quality of housing within North Lanarkshire.

“As the largest local authority landlord in Scotland, it’s a huge project, which will involve financial planning, continuous communication with our tenants and coordination for access to fit, inspect and maintain the new alarms.

“Some installations have already taken place using existing contracts and we are currently developing a new installation programme for the remainder of the housing stock.”