Landlord or Tenant
If you google “who does the fire risk assessment landlord or tenant”, you’ll find hundreds of forum threads with conflicting answers. Understanding who is responsible for the fire risk assessment is crucial. Here’s the actual legal position in 2025 – straight from the legislation and the latest Fire Safety Act guidance, with no waffle.
The Short Answer
Under Article 9 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, the Responsible Person must ensure a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment is carried out.
Who is the Responsible Person? → In almost every case, it is the person who has control of the premises (or the part of the premises in question).
That usually means:
- Single-let commercial premises → the tenant (they have day-to-day control)
- Multi-let buildings / offices / industrial units → the landlord/freeholder for common parts; each tenant for their own demise, and each is responsible for the fire risk assessment there.
- Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) → the landlord or managing agent (even if tenants pay the bills)
- Purpose-built blocks of flats → the freeholder/resident management company/RMC for the building and common parts
- Leasehold flats → the tenant is usually responsible for inside their own flat; the landlord/RMC for everything else
- Serviced offices / co-working spaces → almost always the operator/licensor
What the Lease Says Is (Mostly) Irrelevant
Fire safety is non-delegable. You cannot shift statutory responsibility to someone else just by writing it into the lease. The Fire Service will pursue whoever actually has “control”, regardless of what the tenancy agreement says.
We see this every week: a tenant thinks “my lease says the landlord does fire safety”, then gets an Enforcement Notice because the landlord never arranged the assessment, making someone liable for not maintaining the fire risk assessment.
Real-World Examples from 2024–2025 Enforcement Cases
- Retail unit in a parade – tenant fined £18,000 because they occupied the shop and had control of the only escape route, even though the lease said “landlord responsible for compliance”.
- HMO in Manchester – landlord prosecuted (and jailed for 8 months) despite blaming the tenants for blocking exits. The judge ruled the landlord had ultimate control and should ensure proper fire risk assessment.
- Office building with three tenants – landlord received the Enforcement Notice for common-area fire doors; each tenant got separate notices for their own units.
Practical Checklist – Who Pays and Who Arranges in 2025?
- Common parts (stairs, corridors, plant rooms) → Landlord/RMC arranges and usually pays
- Individual commercial units → Tenant arranges and is responsible for the fire risk assessment, and pays
- Individual flats (leasehold) → Tenant arranges inside the flat; landlord/RMC for building-wide assessment
- Licenced HMOs → Landlord 100%
- Regulated tenancies/ASTs in converted houses → Usually landlord
How to Protect Yourself (Whether You’re Landlord or Tenant)
- Never assume the other party is doing it.
- Put a clear clause in every new lease/tenancy stating who is responsible for what – and still do your own checks.
- Keep records: invoices, assessor reports, review dates.
- If you’re a tenant and your landlord refuses to act on common parts, report it anonymously to the Fire Service – they have to investigate the fire risk assessment.
Still not sure who is responsible in your building? Drop us the first page of your lease (redact the sensitive bits) and we’ll tell you in plain English who the Responsible Person is – no charge, takes us five minutes.
Contact us here → 07885982771 or fill in the form below and we’ll get straight back to you.
Stay compliant, stay safe.