Carbon monoxide alarm landlord rules UK
Updated: 20 October 2026
You are letting an English house with a gas boiler in the living room and a gas cooker in the kitchen, or you occupy a Scottish home, or you let a Welsh flat with a gas hob. The carbon monoxide alarm landlord rules UK treat those cases differently. England leaves the cooker out and leaves the battery type open. Scotland asks every home for a life battery. Wales counts the hob. This page is from the Products Compared editorial team (October 2026). We matched the regulations and official booklets to the amazon.co.uk listings in our [CO detector comparison](/hub/fire-protection/co-detector), with no laboratory test. A qualifying purchase can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.
You are letting an English house with a gas boiler in the living room and a gas cooker in the kitchen, or you occupy a Scottish home, or you let a Welsh flat with a gas hob.
You are letting an English house with a gas boiler in the living room and a gas cooker in the kitchen, or you occupy a Scottish home, or you let a Welsh flat with a gas hob. The carbon monoxide alarm landlord rules UK treat those cases differently. England leaves the cooker out and leaves the battery type open. Scotland asks every home for a life battery. Wales counts the hob. This page is from the Products Compared editorial team (October 2026). We matched the regulations and official booklets to the amazon.co.uk listings in our CO detector comparison, with no laboratory test. A qualifying purchase can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Battery | Kitemark on the listing | Nation note | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  FireAngel FireAngel FA6813 | 2 × AA, replaceable | No | Listing excludes Scottish homes | 8.7 | about £13.98 | View offer |
 FireAngel FireAngel FA3820 | Sealed 10 years | Yes, BSI | Life battery and a Kitemark line | 9.4 | about £22 | View offer | |
| Alternative |  XINDUM XINDUM CO12 | Sealed lithium | No | Sealed cell, no Kitemark | 7.0 | about £14.43 | View offer |
On this page
Carbon monoxide alarms in English private rented homes
If you let in England, the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015, as amended, require an alarm in any room used as living accommodation, including a bathroom, with a fixed combustion appliance other than a gas cooker. A kitchen with only a gas cooker does not create that duty. A boiler in the living room still does.
The GOV.UK booklet leaves the alarm type open and recommends a sealed long-life cell. The booklet's head-height tip is not a measurement in regulation 4. Placement and test chirps are on the where to fit a carbon monoxide alarm page. Owner-occupiers are outside this rented duty. Approved Document J from 1 October 2022 applies when you install a qualifying appliance, and it also excludes cooking-only gas.
Scotland's rule for every home
The tolerable standard covers every Scottish house, whether you let it or live in it. Fit an alarm in a room with a fixed combustion appliance, such as a boiler, fire, stove or heater, or with a flue from one. A cooker or hob used only for cooking sits outside that requirement. The carbon monoxide alarm is not interlinked with the smoke alarms.
Chapter 17 asks for a battery that lasts the detector's working life and warns at the end of that life, or a hard-wired Type A alarm with a sensor-failure warning. mygov.scot separately asks for a British Kitemark to EN 50291-1. Chapter 17 states BS EN 50291 and a life battery. The Kitemark sentence stays on mygov.scot. This comparison includes no hard-wired Type A alarm. A sealed cell can meet the life-battery wording, and replaceable AA cells cannot.
In Wales, a gas hob counts
From 1 December 2022, regulation 5 of the Renting Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) (Wales) Regulations 2022 requires a working carbon monoxide alarm in each room with a gas, oil or solid-fuel appliance. Rent Smart Wales counts a gas hob, so a kitchen hob and a bedroom boiler mean two alarms.
Welsh Approved Document J, from 6 January 2025, can include a fixed flued cooker when that building work is in scope. An existing occupation contract still follows the December 2022 renting duty, hob included.
How to read a listing for that nation
The FireAngel FA6813 listing says the alarm suits homes in England and Wales and is not for Scottish homes under the new regulations. It uses replaceable AA cells. In Scotland that sentence is a reason to choose another alarm. In England the 2015 regulations leave the cell type open, while the booklet still recommends a sealed cell if the tenant will not change batteries.
The FireAngel FA3820 prints a Kitemark and a sealed ten-year cell. For a Scottish home, that pair sits closer to Chapter 17's life battery and the mygov.scot Kitemark line. The CO12 in this set is sealed and does not print a Kitemark. A sealed cell matches the English recommendation, and it is a weak reason to treat the CO12 as suitable for Scotland.
Common questions
Does an English landlord need a carbon monoxide alarm for a gas cooker?
Under the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015, as amended, a private landlord fits an alarm where living accommodation contains a fixed combustion appliance other than a gas cooker. A bathroom counts if the appliance is fixed there. A kitchen with only a cooker falls outside that duty. A boiler or solid-fuel stove in another room still brings the duty in.
Does a Welsh landlord need a carbon monoxide alarm for a gas hob?
From 1 December 2022, regulation 5 requires a working alarm in each room with a gas, oil or solid-fuel appliance, and Rent Smart Wales counts a gas hob. A hob in the kitchen and a boiler in a bedroom means two alarms. A cylinder-fed portable is outside the definition, as is an appliance the contract-holder may remove. Building guidance on a fixed flued cooker is a separate regime.
Does Scotland require a sealed battery carbon monoxide alarm?
The tolerable standard asks for a battery that lasts the detector's working life and warns at the end of it, unless you fit a hard-wired Type A alarm with a sensor-failure warning. Cooking-only appliances are excluded, and the alarm is not interlinked with smoke alarms. Replaceable AA cells miss that test. The FireAngel FA6813 uses those cells, and its listing says it is not for Scottish homes under the new regulations.
Is a Kitemark required in Scotland, or only a life battery?
Chapter 17 specifies BS EN 50291 and a life battery, or a hard-wired Type A alarm with a sensor-failure warning. mygov.scot separately asks for a British Kitemark to EN 50291-1. A sealed alarm with no Kitemark follows the battery wording. A Kitemarked alarm with replaceable cells can miss the life-battery test. The FireAngel FA3820 shows both. The CO12 is sealed and prints no Kitemark.
What is the fine if an English landlord ignores a carbon monoxide alarm notice?
The GOV.UK booklet says a local authority remedial notice can lead to a fine of up to £5,000. That figure is a ceiling, not an automatic charge for every missing alarm. Check the alarm when a new tenancy granted on or after 1 October 2022 begins, with exceptions for some same-party renewals. From that date, repair or replace a reported fault as soon as reasonably practicable.
Does an owner-occupier follow the same carbon monoxide alarm rules?
The England 2015 regulations and the Wales duty from 1 December 2022 are tenancy rules, so an owner-occupier is outside both. In England, Approved Document J applies when you install a qualifying appliance as building work from 1 October 2022, with cooking-only gas excluded. Scotland's tolerable standard covers every house. These sources state no Northern Ireland rule.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources and the FireAngel FAQ, last checked on 19 October 2026.
- The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015, regulation 4 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- GOV.UK smoke and carbon monoxide alarm Q&A for landlords (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Approved Document J divisional circular on alarm amendments (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Scottish Government tolerable standard, fire and carbon monoxide detection (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- mygov.scot home fire safety (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Renting Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) (Wales) Regulations 2022, regulation 5 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- NHS carbon monoxide poisoning (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- FireAngel homeowner FAQs (retrieved 19 October 2026)