The hot and sunny weather that finally seems to be a feature of British summertime brings with it an increased risk of fires.

If you’re a landlord, it’s a good time to start thinking about how you can keep your property, and your tenants safe.

We’ve put together our top fire safety tips to help you reduce the risks during summer.

Smoke detectors and fire alarms

An obvious but very important one to start with – make sure you’ve got smoke detectors fitted on every floor of your property. Test them and replace the batteries regularly.

If you own a large multi-occupation property, provide fire alarms and extinguishers.

Furniture and appliances

 Ensure that all the furnishings and fittings you provide are fire safe.

If you also provide white goods, like washing machines and tumble dryers for your tenants, clean them regularly and check they’re well maintained.

Dust and objects that fall out of pockets can build up inside and cause them to overheat, which could lead to a fire.

Talk to your tenants

Take some time to chat to your tenants about fire safety and ask them to do their bit to keep themselves and your property safe.

Here are some useful steps they can take:

• Keep barbeques and fire pits a safe distance from anything flammable and make sure they’re fully extinguished when they’re finished with them.
• Keep the property well-ventilated by opening windows when it’s hot to prevent a build of heat and reduce fire risk.
• Keep products like aerosols and cleaning products away from windows – they can be highly flammable when exposed to sunlight.

Just taking some simple steps and being alert can help you and your tenants enjoy the summer safely.