If you have dealt with a council licensing team about an HMO, you have probably met the LACORS fire safety guidance, even if nobody spelled out what it was. It is the document most councils and fire services in England measure HMOs against, so it pays to understand where it came from and what it asks of you. Landlords across Wiltshire and the rest of the country are assessed on it.
What LACORS guidance is
The full title is Housing, Fire Safety: Guidance on fire safety provisions for certain types of existing housing. It was published in 2008 by LACORS, working with the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health and the Chief Fire Officers Association. It takes a risk-based approach designed to satisfy both the Housing Act 2004 and the Fire Safety Order 2005 at the same time.
Guidance, not law
This is the point landlords most need to grasp. LACORS guidance is not legislation. It is recognised good practice. What makes it matter is that councils and fire services treat it as the benchmark, so meeting it will usually satisfy them, and falling short of it tends to attract licence conditions or improvement notices. It is the practical yardstick even though the legal duties sit in the Acts themselves.
What it actually covers
The guidance works through property types, from a shared house to a bedsit HMO, and sets out appropriate measures for each: the detection grade and category, fire-resisting doors, protected escape routes, and emergency lighting. It deliberately avoids rigid one-size definitions, because a low-risk share and a high-risk bedsit conversion need different things. That risk-based logic is why your fire risk assessment drives the result.
Why it is still used after all these years
The guidance has not been significantly rewritten since 2008, and some councils now publish their own updated versions that build on it to reflect newer British Standards and legislation. The core risk-based framework has held up well, which is why it remains the reference point. You can find the original via the CIEH-hosted copy, and many fire services link to it.
Using it without getting lost
The guidance is detailed and technical, which is both its strength and its catch. Reading it cover to cover is useful, but translating it into the right specification for your particular building is where judgement comes in. Deciding whether your three-storey conversion needs a Grade A system, or whether an existing layout can be justified on risk, is exactly the kind of call a competent assessor makes daily. Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service can also point you to local interpretation.
How councils apply it locally
Although the guidance is national, many councils and fire services now publish their own HMO fire safety standards that build on the 2008 document, updating it for newer British Standards and legislation. These local versions are useful because they show how your authority interprets the risk-based approach in practice, particularly on the alarm grade they expect for a given property type.
The sensible move is to read both: the original LACORS guidance for the principles, and your council or fire service version for local detail. Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service is among the services that set out clear expectations for HMOs, and checking the local position before specifying works avoids paying to redo something that does not meet the standard your authority applies.
Meet the standard with confidence
Want your HMO specified to the standard your council expects? For advice tailored to your property from a competent professional, speak to Jamie at ESI: Fire Safety on 01276 300 351.
