By the Unity Stays directors, Marcus Chong & Gadir Al-Khatib · Last updated 12 August 2026
In short: A short let legally needs a written, dated fire risk assessment — a duty an ordinary tenancy does not carry. Nearly every assessment requires interlinked smoke alarms on every storey, carbon monoxide alarms near combustion appliances, clear escape routes and fire-safety-compliant furniture, alongside an annual Gas Safe check and five-yearly electrical inspection. Licensing is separate — confirm with your local authority.
The change that catches people out
When a property is let on a tenancy, the tenant is responsible for a great deal of day-to-day safety and the landlord's duties are relatively well known — gas safety, electrical condition, alarms.
When the same property is let for short stays, it becomes premises to which fire safety legislation applies in a way it did not before. The person in control of the premises acquires duties to assess fire risk and act on that assessment. Guests are not tenants; they do not know the building, they have not been there before, and in an emergency they are trying to find an exit in an unfamiliar property in the dark. The law treats that difference seriously.
The fire risk assessment
A fire risk assessment is the central document. It identifies what could start a fire, who is at risk, how they would get out, and what needs to change. It is not a certificate someone issues after a look round — it is an assessment that must be acted on and kept current.
For smaller, straightforward properties a competent owner can often carry out a suitable assessment themselves using published guidance. For larger properties, anything with sleeping accommodation over multiple floors, flats within larger buildings, or any property where the means of escape is not obvious, a professional assessor is the sensible route and typically costs in the region of £350. That cost sits outside our onboarding fee, and we say so on the fees guide rather than letting it appear as a surprise.
Whichever route applies, the assessment should be written down, dated, and reviewed when anything material changes — a new layout, new furniture, a change in how many people sleep there.
The physical checklist
What an assessment concludes varies by property. These are the items that appear on nearly every one.
- Interlinked smoke alarms on every storey, so an alarm at the bottom of the house wakes someone at the top
- Carbon monoxide alarms in any room with a fixed combustion appliance
- A clear, obvious escape route — not blocked by furniture, luggage or a cleaner's equipment, and openable without a key from the inside
- Fire doors where the assessment requires them, particularly in flats and multi-storey properties
- A fire blanket in the kitchen, and extinguishers where the assessment calls for them
- Emergency lighting where escape routes are internal or unlit
- A displayed escape plan — guests do not know your building and will look for one
- Furniture meeting the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations, which rules out a lot of second-hand and imported soft furnishings
The rest of the certification
Fire is the part that changes most on moving to short letting. The rest is broadly familiar and still applies.
Gas appliances need an annual safety check by a Gas Safe registered engineer, with the record kept. Electrical installations need periodic inspection and a satisfactory condition report — five years is the standard interval and is what we expect to see. Portable appliances are not subject to a statutory testing interval, but a short let has more appliances used by more people who did not buy them, and testing them is both cheap and the obvious answer to a question you may one day be asked.
An Energy Performance Certificate is required for marketed property. Legionella risk needs to be considered where a property stands empty between bookings, which short lets do by definition — in most domestic properties this amounts to a simple assessment and a routine of flushing outlets after a void.
Licensing is separate, and it is not uniform
Compliance and licensing are two different things and getting one right does not cover the other.
Scotland operates mandatory short-term let licensing, and in designated control areas planning permission is required as well. Northern Ireland requires a certificate from Tourism NI before a property can be let to visitors. Wales runs its own arrangements and council tax premium powers vary considerably between authorities. England has no national licensing scheme at present, but Greater London applies a 90-night annual limit on entire-home short letting before planning permission is needed, and an Article 4 direction can remove permitted development rights in any local authority that has made one.
The licensing guide covers each nation. For any specific address, the local authority is the authority — not a general guide, including this one.
What we do, and what stays with you
Onboarding includes health and safety checks, a floor and escape plan, certificate checks, and installation of safety devices including a noise alarm and key safe. We will tell you what is missing and introduce you to an assessor in your area if a professional assessment is needed.
What we cannot do is take on the underlying legal responsibility. Under the management agreement — and this is standard across the industry rather than particular to us — statutory compliance, fire safety obligations and the physical condition of the property remain the owner's. A managing agent operates the letting; it does not become the person responsible for the building. Any company telling you otherwise is describing something their contract almost certainly does not say.
A plain summary of common obligations, not legal advice, and requirements change and vary by nation and property type. Confirm the position for your specific address with your local authority and fire service, and use a competent assessor where one is needed.