Barnsley’s 18,000 council homes in line for £2.8m fire safety upgrade following Grenfell tragedy

The cash will see fire alarms fitted in every floor of council properties, as well as additional carbon monoxide alarms installed at properties with fires and boilers

All council properties are already fitted with smoke alarms, and the upgrade is in preparation for the new Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (Amendment) Regulations 2022.

The legislation was brought in following the tragedy at Grenfell Tower in 2017.

Berneslai Homes, which manages the council-owned properties, will fit the additional alarms before October 1, 2022.

A report to be presented to Barnsley Council’s cabinet at their next meeting on July 27 states: “It should be noted that all council properties already have smoke alarms and CO alarms (where they have been required).

“The installation programme is in response to new guidance.

“The regulation for smoke alarms is that there shall be a smoke alarm on each storey within the property. All alarms must be fitted and working during the tenancy.

“This regulation is not new, it is just now a requirement of social housing landlords (the Council) as well as those in the private sector.”

A further 18,167 smoke and 13,300 carbon monoxide alarms will be installed in Barnsley.

Any landlord found to be in breach could be fined up to £5,000 per property.

Councillor Robert Frost, cabinet spokesperson for regeneration and culture, said: “All our properties already have smoke alarms, and Berneslai Homes had already begun installing additional alarms to cover multiple floors.

“We’re now asking Cabinet to approve this extra investment to accelerate this programme so we can complete it before October 1 when new regulations come into place.

“I encourage all tenants to work with Berneslai Homes to make sure their teams can access properties to complete this work as soon as possible.”

Dan Crossley, head of repairs, maintenance and building safety at Berneslai Homes, said: “Keeping tenants safe is our number one priority, so we welcome the additional investment to install these alarms which will help keep tenants safer in their homes.”