Katherine Metcalfe

The new laws, which were scheduled to come in force in February 2021, would require all homes to have a smoke alarm in the living room and hallways, a heat alarm in the kitchen and a carbon monoxide alarm.

Kevin Stewart MSP, minister for local government and housing, has now written to the Scottish Parliament’s Local Government and Communities Committee to move implementation back to February 2022 due to the practical difficulties likely to be faced by homeowners seeking to make the necessary changes to their homes.

However, Katherine Metcalfe, of Pinsent Masons, said there was a risk that homeowners would be confused by mixed messaging which indicated that responsibility fell only on local authorities and not individuals.

Ms Metcalfe said: “The Scottish government announced overnight that it intends to ask the Scottish Parliament to delay the deadline for complying with new standards for fire and carbon monoxide detection in our homes.

“The announcement risks adding further confusion by suggesting that ‘the legal duty on complying with the legislation will rest with local authorities and not with individual householders’.

“That is only the case in rented accommodation where the local authority is the landlord. Individual homeowners bear legal responsibility for their homes.

“It is unusual to introduce fire safety standards which apply to existing buildings as well as new ones. It is essential that the Scottish government uses this time to raise awareness amongst the general public that this is a requirement for all homes, not just new build, and not just social housing.”

The specialist on health and safety and fire safety, added that the government must also engage urgently with the insurance industry, otherwise the unintended consequence of introducing this legislation to improve fire safety will be to leave unfortunate enough to experience a fire in their home without insurance.

She said: “Publicity around this has been poor and overnight the Scottish government has had to delay implementation. It will be the responsibility of the homeowner or the landlord to ensure their property is compliant ahead of the standard coming into force at a predicted cost of £220.”