Meet the safety rules for your holiday let

Fire

The Fire Safety Order applies if you charge someone to stay in your property and it is not occupied as a private dwelling, even for one night. Short stays by guests who are not friends or family are unlikely to count as a private dwelling. You are the responsible person if you own or control the property, and so is a letting agent that controls it.

Guests do not know the layout, so fire risk assessors look hard at how someone woken at night would get out. Assess the whole property, including the kitchen, any log burner, heaters, barbecues, fire pits and the way out of every bedroom.

For a small cottage or flat, with sleeping accommodation for up to 10 people and no more than four bedrooms on the first floor, the Home Office guide on small paying guest accommodation in England sets out what usually works. Larger or more complex properties need the Home Office guide on sleeping accommodation instead. The guide suggests:

• mains-powered smoke alarms with a battery back-up, interlinked so they all sound together, in hallways, landings, lounges and bedrooms, and a heat alarm in the kitchen
• carbon monoxide detectors wherever there is a gas or solid fuel appliance, including a log burner
• front and back doors that open from the inside without a key
• no guests sleeping in a room that can only be left through another room, and no reliance on first-floor windows as an escape route
• a torch in each bedroom or plug-in night lights on the stairs, if there is no emergency lighting
• a fire action notice and your full address with postcode, so guests can tell the emergency services where they are
• no candles, tea lights or ethanol burners provided for guests

A fire extinguisher and fire blanket in a self-catering kitchen are optional. If nobody from the property is on site between lets, test the alarms and any emergency lighting each time guests change over.

The smoke and carbon monoxide alarm regulations for rented homes cover tenancies where the tenant lives there as their only or main home, so they do not apply to holiday guests. Your fire risk assessment decides what you need.

Gas

The landlord gas safety duties cover holiday cottages, chalets, flats and caravans let for money, including appliances you provide and the flues and pipework serving them.

Give each incoming guest a copy of the gas safety record before they move in. For a stay of up to 28 days you can display a copy in the property instead.

Electrics

The Home Office guide recommends having the fixed electrical installation inspected and tested by a competent electrician at least every five years and acting on the report. It also recommends regular checks of the appliances you supply, such as looking for damaged plugs and frayed cables, and keeping washing machines and dryers clean and in good order.

Water and legionella

In a holiday let that also means keeping tank lids tight, removing pipework you no longer use, cleaning shower heads regularly, flushing taps, showers and toilets before guests arrive and asking guests to report hot water that is not heating properly.

A hot tub or spa pool carries a higher risk. Follow the Health and Safety Executive's guidance on controlling legionella in spa-pool systems and keep a record of the checks.

Other hazards

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 treats a business landlord as self-employed, so you must not expose guests to risks you could reasonably control. Walk the property as a first-time visitor would and deal with slippery surfaces, steps and uneven ground, ponds, swimming pools, play equipment and any livestock.

What to keep ready for an inspection

A fire and rescue officer, council officer or insurer can ask to see your evidence. Keep it together in one folder at the property or a digital folder you can open quickly.