Important changes coming soon!
Fire regulations governing Holiday lets are more stringent than those for tenanted properties or even your own home. And they’re due to change when new post-Grenfell legislation for holiday lets comes into force in October 2023.
The Home Office published the guide to “Making your small paying-guest-accommodation safe from fire” as ‘Article 50 guidance’, to assist businesses and responsible persons in complying with their duties and requirements of the FSO. Many of the requirements in the guidance are fairly straightforward, if not expensive, to satisfy. However, a significant item for the holiday let industry is that every door that opens on to a fire escape route, i.e. the landing and hallway/stairwell, must now be a certified fire door or, at least a ‘nominal’ fire door.
This is significant not least because heritage listed properties with original doors or open-plan layouts are unlikely to be able to get the listed building consent needed to perform the upgrades. Even without the complications of listed building consent, some holiday let owners may consider that the cost of replacing all doors is too expensive.
But, all is not lost as the Envirograf range of passive fire protection products includes several possible solutions, including:
Intumescent paints – including a clear coating so you can retain the natural appearance of wood.
Surface-mounted or rebated fire and smoke seals
Hinge, Lock and Door Closer Fire Protection
plus many others
The Professional Association of Self-Caterers UK (PASC) commissioned a paper to give advice on the interpretation of the new guidance in relation to holiday lets, and the challenges for listed/open-plan properties.
