Leicester’s selective licensing scheme writes a specific fire condition into the licence: fire detection and alarm systems must be linked and connected to the mains. Battery smoke alarms on their own do not satisfy it. The scheme covers parts of five wards, not whole wards, so you have to check the council map rather than guess from the ward name. The fee is £1,290, split as £1,032 on application and £258 when the licence is issued. The scheme started in October 2022 and is due for review in October 2027.
The property must also be free of Category 1 Hazards under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System. Fire is one of those hazards. Check Leicester City Council’s map and current conditions.
Linked mains alarms are a licence condition. They are not the assessment
Fitting linked mains detection is what the selective licence asks for. The fire risk assessment is still a duty under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 if you let an HMO, manage a building with common parts, or run a business. An assessor who only ticks that the alarms are mains-wired, and does not name the escape, has not done the job. Bring the licence conditions to the visit so they can see what the council already required.
Student houses, licensed streets, and the city–county split
A lot of the shared stock is older terraces and former family houses split for students. Fire stopping between the original rooms is what those assessments usually find missing. Say it is a student HMO when you ask for quotes.
Selective-licence houses are often ordinary rented homes in parts of five wards. The linked-mains condition is why many landlords book the assessment in the same month as the licence. Mandatory HMO licensing still applies citywide at five occupants from two or more households sharing facilities.
Leicester City Council and Leicestershire County Council are not the same housing authority. A house in Oadby, Wigston or a county village is not on the city’s selective map. Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service still covers the county. Check which council collects the bins before you quote a city licence condition at a county address.
If you rent from a social landlord, start with them.
Who enforces this in Leicester
Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service enforces the Fire Safety Order here, in the shared parts of a licensed house and in commercial premises. They inspect, they can serve notices, and they can prosecute. They will give advice and they will not produce your assessment. Expect them to ask for the written report first and the evidence that its actions were carried out second. Passing a city council licence inspection is not the same as passing theirs.
What a Leicester report should actually name
A report that could have been written for any city is not suitable and sufficient here. It should say whether the property sits inside the selective map, whether the detection is linked and mains-wired, and what the escape is if the staircase is the only way out. If the alarms are still battery-only in a designated house, the report has to say so. That is a licence condition as well as a fire finding.
Checking an assessor in Leicester
No register exists, so anybody can print a card. Ask a Leicester assessor for their qualifications, who they are registered with, what indemnity they carry, and to see a report they have written for a similar property. The full checklist sits on what a fire risk assessment costs.
What it costs in Leicester
Price follows size, layout, and whether anyone sleeps there. A small shop or office is usually a few hundred pounds. A licensed rented house or an HMO costs more. If you need the assessment because of the linked-mains condition, say that when you ask for quotes. Get more than one, in writing. National ranges are on what a fire risk assessment should cost.
Nottingham is the next city west with three licensing schemes running at once: fire risk assessments in Nottingham.
HMO licensing in Leicester
Battery alarms were fine last year.
Not inside this selective scheme. The licence requires linked, mains-connected detection. Check the council conditions if you are in the designation.
Does that condition replace the fire risk assessment?
No. Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service will still ask for the written assessment.
I let in Oadby. Does the city scheme apply?
Oadby is not Leicester City Council. Check the county and the city map. Do not fit city licence conditions to a county address unless the council that licences you has said so.
Getting a quote from an assessor covering Leicester
Describe the premises and we will pass it to assessors covering Leicester. Say whether the house is in the selective map, and whether the detection is already linked and mains-wired.
Not in Leicester? See all the areas we cover.