North West
Trafford HMO fire safety requirements
Trafford publishes its own HMO fire safety standard, "Guidance & Amenity Standards: Licensable and Other HMOs in Trafford" (2025 (PDF created June 2025)).
Is a fire risk assessment needed for the licence?
Expected, but not sent in
The council's guidance talks about fire risk assessments, but it does not ask you to send one with your application. Fire safety law still says you need one.
Who can carry it out?
A "competent person"
The council says a "competent person" must carry it out. In fire safety law that means someone with enough training, experience or knowledge to assess the house properly. A careful landlord can meet that.
Which standard applies?
Guidance & Amenity Standards: Licensable and Other HMOs in Trafford
Published 2025 (PDF created June 2025).
Read the council's document →When did we last check?
4 October 2026
We re-check every council's documents each month and update this page when they change.
What Trafford expects in 3 typical HMOs
Worked out from the council's own fire safety rules for three common kinds of HMO. Your house may need more or less depending on its layout, which is what a fire risk assessment is for.
2-storey shared house, 5 tenants
- Fire alarm system
- Grade D2, LD3
- Fire doors on bedrooms
- Not required
- Fire door on the kitchen
- Not required
- Protected escape route
- Not required
- Heat detector in the kitchen
- Required
- Emergency lighting
- Not required
- Fire blanket in the kitchen
- Required
- Fire extinguishers
- Recommended
3-storey shared house, 6 tenants
- Fire alarm system
- Grade D2, LD3
- Fire doors on bedrooms
- Required
- Fire door on the kitchen
- Required
- Protected escape route
- Required
- Heat detector in the kitchen
- Required
- Emergency lighting
- Not required
- Fire blanket in the kitchen
- Required
- Fire extinguishers
- Recommended
3-storey bedsits with cooking in rooms, 6 tenants
- Fire alarm system
- Grade A, LD2, plus a linked heat detector and a standalone smoke alarm in each letting
- Fire doors on bedrooms
- Required
- Fire door on the kitchen
- Required
- Protected escape route
- Required
- Heat detector in the kitchen
- Required
- Emergency lighting
- Not required
- Fire blanket in the kitchen
- Required
- Fire extinguishers
- Recommended
| Requirement | 2-storey shared house, 5 tenants | 3-storey shared house, 6 tenants | 3-storey bedsits with cooking in rooms, 6 tenants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fire alarm system | Grade D2, LD3 | Grade D2, LD3 | Grade A, LD2, plus a linked heat detector and a standalone smoke alarm in each letting |
| Fire doors on bedrooms | Not required | Required | Required |
| Fire door on the kitchen | Not required | Required | Required |
| Protected escape route | Not required | Required | Required |
| Heat detector in the kitchen | Required | Required | Required |
| Emergency lighting | Not required | Not required | Not required |
| Fire blanket in the kitchen | Required | Required | Required |
| Fire extinguishers | Recommended | Recommended | Recommended |
- Grade D2 (mains alarms with a replaceable backup battery)
- Grade A (a panel system with call points)
- LD3 (escape route only)
- LD2 (escape route plus rooms where fires are likely to start)
In the council's own words
The wording these requirements come from, quoted from the published documents.
Fire alarms
LACORS national guide
“Shared house HMO of three or four storeys (shared cooking facilities) Grade D: LD3 coverage + additional detection to the kitchen, lounge and any cellar containing a risk (interlinked) Shared house HMO of five or six storeys (shared cooking facilities) Grade A: LD2 coverage ... Bedsit HMO of one or two storeys with individual cooking facilities within bedsits A mixed system: Grade D: LD2 coverage in the common areas and heat detectors in bedsits (interlinked) Grade D smoke alarm in each bedsit to protect the sleeping occupants (non-interlinked) Bedsit HMO of three to six storeys with individual cooking facilities within bedsits A mixed system: Grade A: LD2 coverage in the common areas ... Where cooking facilities are sited in shared kitchen, not within bedsits: interlinked smoke alarms with integral battery backup located in each bedsit”
Fire doors
LACORS national guide
“30-minute protected route note 8, is required, including 30-minute fire-resisting construction and FD30 doors to all risk rooms (without smoke seals ... 30-minute fire-resisting construction and FD30S doors to all risk rooms. Travel distance must not be excessive”
Escape route
LACORS national guide
“No requirement for full 30-minute protected route note 7, but the escape route should have sound, traditional construction and should not pass through risk rooms ... 30-minute protected route note 8, is required, including 30-minute fire-resisting construction”
Kitchen heat detector
LACORS national guide
“additional interlinked heat alarm with integral battery back-up located in the kitchen”
Emergency lighting
LACORS national guide
“Emergency escape lighting required only if the route is long or complex or where there is no effective borrowed light ... Shared house HMO of five or six storeys (shared cooking facilities) Conventional lighting and emergency escape lighting”
Fire extinguishers
LACORS national guide
“a simple multi-purpose extinguisher is recommended on each floor in the common parts of HMOs and buildings containing flats.”
Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will check it.
Common questions
Do I need a fire risk assessment for a Trafford HMO licence?
Can I do my own HMO fire risk assessment in Trafford?
Which fire safety standard does Trafford use for HMOs?
What fire alarm does a 3-storey shared house need in Trafford?
Check your Trafford HMO against the council's standard
Answer plain-English questions about your house and get a fire risk assessment report built on Trafford's rules. £45, no subscription.