March 20, 2018
The housing minister of Scotland has announced that fire safety standards will be the same across all housing tenures. A change will be made to the tolerable standard legislation to require all Scottish homes to have the same interlinked smoke/heat alarm system that has already been required for several years in the private rented sector (PRS).
The minister has agreed to allow long life sealed unit battery detectors in place of mains powered ones in all tenures, which will significantly reduce the cost and difficulty of fitting detectors. Full details of the minster’s announcement can be read at https://news.gov.scot/news/improving-home-safety. Please note that a date for implementation of the new standard has not yet been announced and in the meantime the standard applicable to PRS properties remains unchanged.