Does my holiday let need a fire risk assessment?
Yes. If you let a property to paying guests — a holiday cottage, an Airbnb, a B&B or any short-term let — it's a non-domestic premises under the Fire Safety Order, and the law requires a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment. Since October 2023 it must also be recorded in writing, however few people you employ.
Independent holiday-let and short-let assessments across Hampshire & Dorset — the Dorset coast and New Forest especially — carried out personally by Matt McAllen, an Associate of the Institute of Fire Safety Managers (AIFSM), chartered in occupational safety (CMIOSH). Fixed prices from £199, and no upfront payment.
If guests pay to stay, the duty is yours
The moment someone pays to stay in your property — and it isn't their permanent home — you become the "responsible person" under the Fire Safety Order. That's true whether you let directly, through Airbnb or Booking.com, or through a holiday-letting agency. The platform doesn't hold the duty. The managing agent doesn't, unless they have full control. You do.
It applies to a single cottage let a handful of weeks a year just as it applies to a portfolio. The Order makes no exception for "only occasionally," and your local fire and rescue service has the power to inspect a holiday let and act if it isn't compliant.
You need one. Here's how simple it is.
Most holiday lets are small, straightforward properties — so this is quick and undisruptive. Tell me about the place and I'll come back to you personally, usually within a few hours. No upfront payment, no commitment.
- 1 Send a quick enquiryA few details so I can confirm your fixed price and find a date that suits your changeover schedule.
- 2 I visit and assessA thorough, non-intrusive assessment of the property, the escape routes and the detection — built around guests who don't know your layout.
- 3 Draft, then invoiceYou review a draft first. The finalised, signed report — ready to display in the property and show your insurer or the fire service — follows once the invoice is settled. Nothing paid up front.
Confirm my price
No upfront payment. No obligation. It's me, Matt, who calls you back — usually within a few hours. Holiday let, short-term let, B&B or guest house — tell me what you've got and I'll confirm your fixed price.
Fixed from £199 · nothing paid up front
What the law actually requires of a holiday let
Holiday lets fall under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 — the same law that covers any business premises. As the responsible person you must carry out a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment, act on what it finds, and keep it under review. Since 1 October 2023 you must also record it in writing.
The Fire Safety Order applies to any premises where people pay to stay other than as their permanent home — cottages, flats, Airbnbs, B&Bs, guest houses and self-catering lets alike. Under it, you must assess the risk, put in place adequate fire-safety measures, keep them maintained, and review the assessment regularly — at least once a year, and sooner if you change the layout or add a bedroom.
What changed in 2023 is the recording duty. The Building Safety Act 2022 (section 156) amended the Order so that every responsible person must record their fire risk assessment in full — removing the old exemption for premises with fewer than five employees. For a holiday let, which usually has no employees at all, that's the practical shift: a written, recorded assessment is now unambiguously required.
The Government also publishes dedicated guidance — Making your small paying guest accommodation safe from fire — for premises on the ground or ground-and-first floor that sleep up to ten people. It's the benchmark the fire service judges a small let against. Larger or more complex properties fall under the fuller sleeping accommodation guidance instead. A competent assessment works to the right one for your property.
Want the plain-English background first? See our guide: Do holiday lets need a fire risk assessment?
Built around guests who don't know your building
A holiday let is assessed under the PAS 79-1:2020 methodology, judged against the Government's guidance for paying-guest sleeping accommodation. The focus is the things that matter when the people inside are asleep and unfamiliar with the layout.
Independence note. I don't sell alarms, emergency lighting, fire doors or extinguishers, and I don't do the remedial work. My only product is the report — so what it recommends is only ever about your guests' safety, never my next sale.
Sleeping guests, in a building they don't know
Your guests are asleep, they don't know where the exits are, and they may have had a drink. That combination is exactly why holiday-let fire safety is treated as a sleeping risk — and why "it's only a small cottage" doesn't lower the bar.
In their own home people escape on instinct. A guest has to find an unfamiliar way out, in the dark, possibly through smoke. The building has to do the work for them.
A sleeping occupant needs early warning and time. That's why interlinked detection in the bedrooms matters more here than almost anything else.
You can't manage the risk in person at 3am. The physical fire safety, set up once and properly, is what protects your guests and your investment when you're nowhere near.
Transparent, fixed pricing
Priced by the number of rooms — counted as the total rooms in the property — and shown upfront: up to 5 rooms £199, 6 to 8 rooms £249. Most holiday lets and Airbnbs fall in the £199 band. No VAT surprises, no mileage charges across Hampshire & Dorset, and nothing to pay until your finalised report is delivered.
Get your fixed price
Fixed price, no upfront payment. You only pay once you're happy with your report.
Serving the Dorset coast & New Forest — including Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch, Weymouth, the New Forest and Lymington. See all areas.
A report you can display, and rely on
A narrative report to PAS 79-1:2020 that describes the property, rates the risk with clear reasoning, and gives you a prioritised action plan — ready to keep in the property's information folder and to show your insurer or the fire service. Here's what it looks like.
The actual document you'll receive.
Tap a page to read it full size.
Matt McAllen
AIFSM · CMIOSH (Chartered) · Level 3 Certificate in Fire Risk Assessment
I personally carry out every assessment, working to PAS 79-1:2020 and the Government's paying-guest accommodation guidance. No team, no subcontracting, no sales pitch attached — just the assessment your property needs.
Letting shared housing rather than to holiday guests? See my HMO fire risk assessments, or the same Order for any business premises.
Holiday lets & short lets — your questions
Do I need a fire risk assessment if I let on Airbnb?
Yes. It makes no difference whether you let through Airbnb, Booking.com, an agency or directly — if paying guests stay in your property, the Fire Safety Order applies and the responsible person is you, not the platform. A recorded assessment is required.
Is a holiday let the same as an HMO?
No. An HMO is shared housing where people live as their home, assessed under housing rules. A holiday let is short-term paying-guest accommodation, assessed as a non-domestic premises under the Fire Safety Order. If you let shared housing rather than to holiday guests, see our HMO fire risk assessments instead.
Can I do the fire risk assessment myself?
For a very simple, small let the Government says an owner may feel able to. But it still has to be suitable, sufficient and recorded in full — and stand up if the fire service or your insurer looks closely. On a building where guests sleep unfamiliar with the layout, an independent competent assessment is what holds up. I'll tell you honestly if yours is simple enough that you don't need me.
Does it apply if I only let a few weeks a year?
Yes. The Order has no "occasional letting" exemption. If guests pay to stay at all, the duty applies — though an occasional, simple let is usually quick and inexpensive to assess.
What about a B&B or guest house?
Same law, same approach. Bed and breakfasts, guest houses and self-catering accommodation are all covered by the Fire Safety Order, and assessed as paying-guest sleeping accommodation. Tell me about the property and I'll confirm your price.
How often do I need one?
Review it at least once a year, and sooner if anything significant changes — a new bedroom, a layout change, a loft conversion, or a change in how the property is used.
Find out what your assessment costs
A few quick details, a fixed price confirmed, and a date that fits your changeovers. No upfront payment, ever.
Independent · Chartered · Hampshire & Dorset