Two quick questions to tell you whether the law requires a fire risk assessment for your property — and exactly which legislation applies. No email needed.
You have a legal duty to have a current, suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment carried out.
For a single, fully self-contained let with its own entrance and no communal areas, the Fire Safety Order 2005 does not impose the same formal duty. However, you still have fire safety obligations as a landlord — working smoke alarms on every storey, a carbon monoxide alarm in rooms with a fuel-burning appliance, and safe means of escape — and a selective licensing scheme or your insurer may still require a written assessment.
The Fire Safety Order 2005 applies to non-domestic premises and the shared parts of residential buildings — not to a single private home occupied by one household. So a formal fire risk assessment isn't legally required for your own home.
You should still have working smoke alarms on every level, test them monthly, and keep escape routes clear. If you ever let the property out or take in a lodger who shares facilities, the position changes.
The "responsible person" under the Fire Safety Order 2005 — usually the employer, owner, landlord or managing agent in control of the premises. You can appoint a competent assessor to do the work, but the legal duty stays with you.
It identifies fire hazards and people at risk, evaluates and reduces the risk, checks escape routes, alarms, emergency lighting, fire doors and signage, and produces a prioritised action plan you can act on.
It must be kept up to date — reviewed regularly (in practice at least annually) and whenever the building, its use or its occupants change significantly.
Enforcement by the fire service can mean improvement or prohibition notices, and in serious cases unlimited fines or prosecution. For HMOs, a missing assessment can also block or revoke your licence.