Over 3,000 Aberdeen City Council homes yet to be fitted with interlinked smoke alarms

Over 3,000 Aberdeen City Council homes yet to be fitted with interlinked smoke alarms

Thousands of Aberdeen City Council homes are yet to be fitted with interlinked smoke alarms, despite new laws.

The law, which came into force on February 1, requires all Scottish households to have the appliances installed. It is the responsibility of councils to ensure the alarms are installed for their tenants.

However, across Aberdeen, 2,500 council homes are still without alarms due to refusals from tenants and inability to gain access. This is understood to be over 10% of the council’s total housing stock.

The new appliances must be installed in the room where individuals spend most of their time, with the devices also to be fitted in kitchens and hallways.

Aberdeen City Council confirmed it aims to have a “new policy and procedure” in place by the end of July to “facilitate access” to remaining properties, The Press and Journal reports.

In Aberdeenshire, 11,941 properties have been fitted with the new alarms, with a compliance rate of 99.6% to date. This has improved more than 10% since January, when the council reported it was at 89% compliance.

The new standards were introduced following the Grenfell Tower tragedy in 2017 in an attempt to “save more lives”. However, the Scottish Government has been criticised for the “chaotic” rollout of the legislation. Government officials have said there will be no penalties for noncompliance and that no one will be penalised if they need more time.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We know social landlords including councils are working hard to meet new standards requiring interlinked fire alarms, and the vast majority of homes now meet them.”

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