smoke and carbon monoxide alarm check
What are the landlord smoke and CO alarm rules?
At least one smoke alarm on every storey with a room used as living accommodation, and a carbon monoxide alarm in any such room containing a fixed combustion appliance other than a gas cooker. Both have applied to all rented homes in England since 1 October 2022. Once a tenant reports an alarm faulty, it must be repaired or replaced.
- smoke alarms
- one per storey, minimum
- CO alarms
- any room with a fixed combustion appliance
- not included
- gas cookers
- in force since
- 1 October 2022
- test
- on the first day of a new tenancy
- faults
- repaired or replaced once reported
The date you choose
The law names one test date — the first day of a new tenancy — and then leaves the rest to the landlord. Most treat it as an annual walk-round, often on the same visit as the gas safety check.
That is why this renewal sits on the list with a date you set. A tenancy that runs for six years has no statutory test date in it at all, which is exactly how a dead battery goes unnoticed for six years.
Wood burners and boilers
A carbon monoxide alarm is required where there is a fixed combustion appliance: a gas boiler, a wood burner, an open fire, an oil boiler. A gas cooker is the stated exception, though fitting an alarm anyway is not a mistake.
Sealed 10-year alarms remove the battery problem and add an expiry date of their own. Note that date when it is fitted.
if it lapses
up to £5,000
A council serves a remedial notice first, and a landlord who does not comply within 28 days can face a penalty of up to £5,000. It is the cheapest rule on the list to keep and one of the more common ones to be caught by.
Written by OriginAI and kept current as the rules move. Last reviewed 5 September 2026. It sets out the dates as we read them and is not legal advice.