Hi all , a big ask here for a complex issue , I own and did rent out a flat years ago in a building converted into 3 flats, the other two flats are presently rented out , I have lived in my flat for the last 30 years. in July 2018 the local fire Brigade did a massive sweep of my county to inspect HMO type properties, I then received a notification of fire deficiencies under the 2005 reform Regulations which required mainly a Grade A LD2 coverage in the common areas , heat detector in each flat all interlinked with grade D single room smoke detectors non interlinked at that time only one flat was rented out.
The council state that the building has no authorisation for the conversion and does not comply with the appropriate building standards . Having made an argument with the council , back in 2018 they verbally said forget it, now on the 3 Dec 21 they have come back and issued another letter laying out exactly the same for all of the above . I checked with planning and building control and indeed their is no record of any planning applications going back to 1975, the other flats have changed hands in ownership twice in the last 30+ years . I also checked with my local fire brigade to find out if the property was registered for inspections as a HMO , they could only tell me that the property was visited in 2013 for an inspection, but failed to gain access. The property, who ever converted it , had emergency lights installed, fire doors, fire notices and fire extinguishers in each landing and is in immaculate condition , note, after asking the fire brigade about their inspections, I suddenly received a visit from them the next day, and they are some what perplexed of where this problem is today, given they issued a inspection report in July 2018, they have now issued a section 239 notice to start the whole process over again given it is now classed as a s257 HMO re: 2/3 flats now rented.
If the property was all private owner occupied can the council force the owners to carry out all of the above fire protection upgrades .
The big question , am I legally required to have a heat detector fitted in my own private property and should I have to pay towards all the main communal work given the situation has been forced on me by the other two lease holders who rent their flats out
