Broken fire doors, faulty smoke alarms or blocked escape routes are repairs your landlord must fix. Report them in writing, and for danger now call 999. Free routes to get them sorted.
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In short
Your landlord must keep your home, and the building's shared parts, safe from fire. That means smoke alarms that work. Fire doors that close properly. Escape routes kept clear. In danger right now? Call 999 and ask for the fire service. A landlord who will not put a fire problem right leaves the free routes below. They sort it fast.
Fire-safety repairs your landlord is responsible for
- Smoke alarms that work, and carbon monoxide alarms where needed
- Fire doors, your front door and the shared-hallway ones, that close and seal properly
- Clear, unblocked escape routes and shared hallways
- Safe electrics and gas. See electrical safety and carbon monoxide.
What to do
- Report it in writing and keep a copy.
- Treat an emergency as urgent: a blocked fire exit, or a broken fire door in a block.
- Immediate danger means 999 and the fire service.
- A landlord ignoring you leaves two free routes. The council's environmental health team can inspect and order the repair. The fire service can act on fire risks.
Free ways to get a fire-safety problem sorted
Fire safety is a safety matter, so the fastest routes usually cost nothing and involve no claim:
- The council's environmental health team. They can inspect under the HHSRS rating system. They can legally force a serious fire hazard fixed. See how to ask for an HHSRS inspection.
- The fire and rescue service. They enforce fire safety in the shared parts of blocks. They can order the "responsible person" to act.
- 999, straight away, where danger is immediate.
Bigger building-safety problems
Serious whole-block issues belong elsewhere. Cladding, or major structural fire risks, sit with the building's "responsible person", often the freeholder or managing agent, and with the fire service. See fire safety in flats, EWS1 and cladding.
Sources
- Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, Section 11 (legislation.gov.uk)
- Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (legislation.gov.uk)
- Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (Amendment) Regulations 2022 (legislation.gov.uk)
We review every guide at least twice a year and update it when the law changes. If you spot something out of date or wrong, email help@supportfortenants.co.uk.
Reviewed against current housing law for England and Wales as at 25 July 2026. Checked by our SRA-regulated panel solicitors. This is general information, not legal advice for your specific case. Any compensation figures or ranges shown are illustrative only, not a promise; every case is different.
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