Most landlords have heard of the Fire Safety Order, but the HMO management regulations are just as important and far less talked about. They place hands-on, day to day fire safety duties on whoever manages the HMO, and a breach is a criminal offence. If you manage a shared house in Hastings or anywhere in East Sussex, these are the rules that govern how you run the building week to week.
What the regulations are
The Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006 set out the duties of the person managing an HMO. They sit alongside the Fire Safety Order and the Housing Act rather than replacing them, and they apply to most HMOs whether or not the property is licensed.
The fire safety duties they impose
On fire safety specifically, the manager must take measures to protect occupiers from injury, keep all means of escape free from obstruction and in good order, and ensure any firefighting equipment and fire alarms are maintained in good working order. In practice that means clear hallways and stairs, doors that work, and detection that is tested and serviced.
Keeping escape routes clear
The duty to keep escape routes free of obstruction sounds obvious, but it is one of the most common failings councils find. Bikes, bin bags, deliveries and stored furniture in a shared hallway turn a usable escape route into a hazard. The manager is responsible for keeping it clear, which means tenant communication and regular checks, not a one-off tidy.
Maintaining equipment and alarms
The regulations require alarms and firefighting equipment to be kept in good working order. For an HMO that usually means a detection system tested regularly and serviced by a competent person, with records kept. The detection standard itself comes from the LACORS guidance and BS 5839-6, but the duty to maintain it sits squarely in the 2006 Regulations.
Notices and information
The regulations also require certain information to be displayed and provided, and good practice is to give tenants clear fire safety instructions and to display fire action notices where needed. We cover what to put up in our guide to HMO fire signage. East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service can advise on the practical side for your building.
How this links to your assessment
The 2006 duties and your fire risk assessment reinforce each other. The assessment identifies what is needed, the management duties keep it working day to day. Treating them as a single ongoing routine, rather than separate paperwork, is what keeps a busy HMO compliant.
Building the duties into a routine
The 2006 duties are ongoing, so they work best as a simple recurring routine rather than an annual scramble. A monthly walk of the building covers most of it: test the alarm system, check the escape route is clear, confirm fire doors close properly, and look over communal areas for new hazards. Logging each check turns your obligations into evidence you can show a council.
Tenant communication is part of the job too, since much of what goes wrong, propped fire doors, cluttered hallways, disabled detectors, comes from day to day living rather than the building itself. East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service provides guidance for landlords, and a clear house routine keeps a busy HMO compliant between formal inspections.
Keep the log simple and consistent: a dated sheet or a phone note recording each test and check is enough, provided it is genuinely kept up. The point is to show a pattern of routine care rather than a single tidy-up before an inspection, which is what a council looks for.
Stay on top of your management duties
Want help building these duties into a routine that holds up? For advice tailored to your property from a competent professional, speak to Jamie at ESI: Fire Safety on 01276 300 351.
