Failing Your HMO Fire Risk Assessment Inspection

Fire safety inspections in HMOs aren't random. They happen when there's a complaint, a licence renewal, a reported incident, or when a council or fire service runs an enforcement campaign in your area. The point is: you won't necessarily get advance warning. And when an inspector turns up and finds that your fire risk assessment is inadequate — or that your actual fire precautions don't match what the assessment says — the consequences can be serious.

Here's what actually happens, who has the power to do what, and how you protect yourself.

Who Can Inspect Your HMO?

Two bodies have the power to inspect your HMO for fire safety:

• Your local council — under the Housing Act 2004 and the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS), councils can inspect licensed and unlicensed HMOs at any time. Fire is one of 29 hazard categories assessed under HHSRS, and it's a Category 1 hazard — meaning councils aren't just allowed to act when they identify a serious risk, they're required to.
• Your local fire and rescue service — under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (RRO 2005), fire services can enter and inspect any premises within scope of the Order, which includes the common areas of your HMO. They can ask to see your fire risk assessment and your records of fire safety checks on the spot.

What Inspectors Actually Check

An inspector will typically be looking at whether:

• A written fire risk assessment exists and is available immediately on request — not "I need to dig it out from somewhere"
• The assessment is current — reviewed within the last 12 months, or after any significant change to the property or occupancy
• The assessment is genuinely property-specific, not a generic template with nothing to tie it to your actual building
• The fire precautions in place actually match what the assessment says should be there
• Any action plan items in the assessment have been addressed — or if not, why not and when they will be
• Fire detection and alarm systems are working and have been regularly tested
• Fire doors are properly fitted, self-closing, and not propped open
• Escape routes are clear — no bikes in the hall, no boxes on the stairs
• Emergency lighting is present and working where it should be
• Fire extinguishers are in place and have been serviced

That last point about the action plan is important. An assessment that identifies deficiencies but shows no evidence they've been dealt with can make your position worse, not better. It looks like you knew about a problem and did nothing.

What Happens If Your Assessment Fails?

Informal Action First (Sometimes)

In many cases, a first inspection that finds problems will result in informal action — a letter explaining what needs fixing and by when. This is most likely when the issues are administrative: an out-of-date assessment, missing records. It's much less likely if there are physical failures like no working fire doors or a missing alarm system.

Enforcement Notices

Where there's a significant failure, inspectors can issue enforcement notices. Fire service enforcement notices under the RRO 2005 can require you to carry out specific improvements to fire precautions, produce a compliant fire risk assessment, or restrict how parts of the building are used.

Council enforcement notices under the Housing Act 2004 — Improvement Notices and Prohibition Orders — can require physical works or restrict occupancy. A Prohibition Order can stop people from living in the property entirely until deficiencies are fixed. That means empty rooms and no rent.

Licence Refusal or Revocation

Your council can refuse an HMO licence application outright, or revoke an existing licence, if fire safety standards aren't met. And here's the thing: operating an HMO without a licence where one is required is itself a criminal offence. Unlimited fines, and your tenants can apply for a rent repayment order covering up to 12 months' rent. That's potentially tens of thousands of pounds.

Prosecution

In serious cases — where a fire has occurred, where a prohibition order has been ignored, or where an assessment has been falsified — prosecution is on the table. Under the RRO 2005, conviction means unlimited fines and up to two years in prison. Councils can also prosecute under the Housing Act 2004 for licensing failures. Both are criminal proceedings. Both result in a criminal record.

Civil Liability Too

The criminal penalties aren't the only risk. If a tenant is injured or killed in a fire that was caused by your failure to carry out an adequate fire risk assessment or maintain proper fire precautions, you may be liable for damages in a civil claim. And watch out: most landlord insurance policies require compliance with statutory fire safety obligations as a condition of cover. If you don't have a compliant FRA, your insurer may refuse to pay out at exactly the moment you need them most.

How to Protect Yourself

1. Have a written FRA in place — produced to BS 9792:2025, covering all five steps of the RRO 2005 methodology. Not a printout from a generic online template.
2. Keep it current — review it annually and after any significant change to the property or who's living there.
3. Actually act on the action plan — an assessment that identifies deficiencies you haven't fixed is evidence of a problem, not proof of compliance.
4. Keep records of everything — alarm tests, fire door inspections, extinguisher servicing, any remedial works you've carried out. These records are how you demonstrate to an inspector that you're actively managing fire safety, not just hoping for the best.
5. Make your FRA available immediately — it should be somewhere you can put your hands on it the moment an inspector asks. If you have to go hunting for it, that's already a bad start.

The Bottom Line

An inadequate fire risk assessment can trigger enforcement notices, licence refusal, prosecution, and civil liability claims. If you don't have one at all, the consequences are even more severe — our guide to what happens if you don't have a fire risk assessment for your HMO sets this out in detail.

The best protection is straightforward: a current, property-specific FRA that reflects the actual condition of your HMO, and clear evidence you're acting on it. FRASafe produces exactly the document you need — aligned to BS 9792:2025, council-ready, for £45. Get it sorted before an inspector turns up, not after.