Your Airbnb accommodation
If your premises or parts(s) of your premises are used for Airbnb, you must carry out a fire risk assessment. This must be done by your appointed 'Responsible person'.
On this page you will find information about:
- where to find advice and guidance for carrying out a fire risk assessment
- which guidance is appropriate for your type and size of premises
- whether Kent Fire and Rescue Service, or your Local Authority, are responsible for ensuring you meet your fire safety obligations and who enforces the law if you fail to do so.
Fire Risk Assessment Guidance for Airbnb
If your Airbnb premises are small and uncomplicated
If your Airbnb premises or area is:
- small
- has a simple layout
- a small number of bedrooms that guests use
- has limited fire risks
- is limited to a single premises with just a ground, or ground and first floor
- no more than 10 people can sleep there
- if you have a first floor there are no more than four bedrooms on that floor
- or is an individual and not unusually large flat
the Home Office Guidance to 'Making your for Small paying guest accommodation safe from fire' will provide you with the information you need to carry out a fire risk assessment and meet your obligations. Learn more on our Small paying guest accommodation section, from where you can access the Home Office Guidance.
Go to Small paying guest accommodation
If your Airbnb premises are large or complicated
If your Airbnb falls outside the scope of the guidance for Small paying guest accommodation referred to above, you will find helpful advice and information in the Home Office guidance for Sleeping accommodation.
While this guidance is intended primarily for larger guest accommodation properties including self-catering accommodation, guest houses, bed and breakfast, hotels and other places where people sleep, it ‘…does not set prescriptive standards, but provides recommendations and guidance for use when assessing the adequacy of fire precautions in premises providing sleeping accommodation’. Please go to our Sleeping accommodation section where you can learn more and access the Guidance.
Who inspects fire safety for your Airbnb
The authority that governs, inspects and enforces fire safety for your premises will be either the Fire and Rescue Service, or your Local Authority. Which one will depend on the following:
If your Airbnb is a room, accommodation or self-contained accommodation in a private house
- if Council Tax (not business rates) are paid on the property
- if there is no staff,
your Airbnb will be regulated by your Local Authority.
If your Airbnb is a business or you have staff
- if you run your Airbnb as a business, from a property that pays business rates (not council tax)
- and/or if you have staff - for example a receptionist or someone who makes the beds and tidies up every day
your Airbnb will be regulated by Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS).
What is the difference?
Airbnb that are a business
Kent Fire and Rescue Service are legally required by the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (the Fire Safety Order) and other subsequent laws, to inspect business premises and make sure that you have appropriate fire safety in place. This is to help protect your building, your customer, staff and anyone who uses the building, from the risk of fire.
Our Inspector will make sure that your premises comply with the government guidance in order to ensure that:
- if there is a fire, the building will hold back fire and smoke to allow enough time for people to escape
- the building has the appropriate fire alarm(s) and warnings, signage, lighting and other requirements referred to in the government guidance to assist people to evacuate if there is a fire
- that you know what to do if there is a fire, and that this information has been passed onto your staff and other relevant people
- you are doing everything to stop fire in the first place by identifying fire hazards and people at risk, and by removing or reducing those hazards and risks
- that you keep records of what you do and keep your Fire Risk Assessment updated
Airbnb in a private house
Local authorities have a duty to assess the condition of residential premises which are the subject of short term lets, and to ensure that any hazards are identified including health and safety and fire hazards.
If fire hazards are risks are identified in your Airbnb, the local authority may liaise with us. This may result in us visiting your premises and reviewing your Fire Risk Assessment (see 'Fire Risk Assessment Guidance for Airbnb' above for further information) and feeding back our findings to the local authority, who have a duty to take enforcement action against you if you fail to meet fire safety requirements.
Further advice and guidance
Helpful information on fire safety for hosts is also available on the Airbnb website.