A startling report suggests property types favoured by many landlords are significantly more likely to fail fire checks.
A study by Direct365, using Home Office Fire Statistics in England, show the enforcement is relatively poor.
There are over 2.5m premises known to fire authorities but only 52,026 audits conducted in 2024/25.
And there were shockingly high fire safety audit failure figures:
- Houses converted to flats – 59%
- Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMOs) – 55%
- Hotels – 55%
- Hospitals – 50%
- Licensed premises (pubs/clubs) – 49%
Houses converted to flats recorded the highest rate of audit failures in the UK. Out of the 790 audits carried out on these premises, 59% resulted in a failure to meet the required standards.
HMOs and hotels saw the joint-second highest failure rate, with 55% of audited buildings in both categories failing their safety checks.
Hospitals followed closely behind, with exactly half (50%) of the 766 audits conducted in the past year deemed unsatisfactory.
The data highlights a massive disparity in how different sectors are monitored when looking at the proportion of buildings inspected.
Care Homes are the most scrutinised business type in the UK, with 20% of all known premises receiving an audit in the last year. Hospitals also see significant oversight, with 12% of all sites receiving a specialist inspection.
In contrast, only 1.2% of houses converted to flats were audited in 2024/25.
A Direct365 statement says: “Even more concerning are HMOs, where less than 1% of the UK’s 94,000 known HMOs were inspected, despite more than half (55%) failing to meet standards.”
The company’s spokesperson, Karl Bantleman, says: “The data reveals a worrying ‘fire safety lottery’ across the UK.
“With a staggering 59% failure rate for converted flats, it is clear that the sectors receiving the least attention from inspectors are often the ones most in need of it.
“Business owners and landlords cannot afford to wait for an audit that, statistically, may only happen once every 48 years.
“To help protect premises and ensure fire safety audits are satisfactory, business owners must keep all emergency exits clear, ensure fire doors are never wedged open, and, most importantly, ensure Fire Risk Assessments are reviewed annually.”
