Smoke alarms – are you ready for 1 January 2022?

Smoke alarms – are you ready for 1 January 2022?

It pays to treat your property portfolio as though it is a business. To me, this means it runs without me, profitably and, most importantly, compliantly. You may think that if you have paid your mortgage repayments you will never lose you assets; however, if you are found to be negligent in your responsibilities, you may lose them in another way.

A nightmare for the property investor would be to have a fire at their property that leads to a fatality and risk the owner or managing agent being found criminally negligent. New legislation that will further strengthen the laws pertaining to smoke alarms comes into play on 1 January, 2022 and it will pay to be ready ahead of time. See here for more information.

As an investor myself, I am moving ahead of time to ensure I will be compliant before 1 January, 2022. Since the announcements of the legislation in 2017, my strategy has been to do one smoke alarm per year for the subsequent five years to spread the cost out across five years and maintain a smooth cashflow. I also intend on holding my portfolio throughout this timeframe, making it compulsory for my situation.

If you are intending to hold on to your property, do not wait to the last minute as labour costs will skyrocket if you leave it too late.
If you intend to sell before this date the responsibility will fall to someone else. If this is the case, please let your property manager know and we can then communicate appropriately with our smoke alarm provider.

When in business, as every property investor is, compliance is mandatory as it allows you to sleep peacefully at night. Sleeping peacefully is wealth in itself!

Yours in Property,
Shannon Davis