Smoke alarm rules in Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Updated: 21 October 2026
A listing that says UK compliant is selling one badge to four countries. You need the duty for the nation where the home is, and for whether you own it, rent it out, or hold a tenancy. This page is that split: Scotland for every home, England for relevant landlords, Wales for rented homes on the mains, and Northern Ireland's 2024 private-tenancy rules. It does not certify any amazon.co.uk kit. Named packs from the [wireless smoke alarm comparison](/hub/fire-protection/wireless-smoke-alarm) are examples of what a box contains, not an approved-product list. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
A listing that says UK compliant is selling one badge to four countries. You need the duty for the nation where the home is, and for whether you own it, rent it out, or hold a tenancy.
A listing that says UK compliant is selling one badge to four countries. You need the duty for the nation where the home is, and for whether you own it, rent it out, or hold a tenancy. This page is that split: Scotland for every home, England for relevant landlords, Wales for rented homes on the mains, and Northern Ireland's 2024 private-tenancy rules. It does not certify any amazon.co.uk kit. Named packs from the wireless smoke alarm comparison are examples of what a box contains, not an approved-product list. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Linking | Heat and CO | Battery | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  LINKD LINKD smoke, heat and CO | RF interlinked | Heat and CO in the box | 10-year sealed | 9.2 | about £99.99 | View offer |
| Alternative |  FireAngel FireAngel FA6620 | Standalone | Smoke only | 10-year sealed | 8.8 | about £11.98 | View offer |
| Best value |  X-Sense X-Sense HS21 | Link+ radio | Heat, no CO | 10-year sealed | 8.4 | about £47.99 | View offer |
On this page
Four nations at a glance
Scotland covers every home from February 2022: smoke in the living room and every hall and landing, heat in the kitchen, and CO if there is a boiler, fire or flue, ceiling-mounted and interlinked. England, from 1 October 2022, covers relevant landlords: one smoke alarm on each living storey, and interlink is not required. Wales wants a smoke alarm on each storey of a rented home, on the electrical supply. Northern Ireland's 2024 private tenancies ask for smoke, kitchen heat and interlink, from 1 September 2024 for new tenancies and by 1 December 2024 for existing ones. A fair Scottish box can be the wrong smoke system for a Welsh rental.
England: rented homes, not every owner
A FireAngel FA6620 at about £11.98 matches the one-per-storey shape if you keep it out of the kitchen. It does not radio-link, and the English duty does not say it must. Home Office guidance from October 2023 prefers a Grade D1 mains system. Fitting steps for a battery kit are on the installation page.
Scotland: every home, interlinked, sealed or mains
Interlink, on the Scottish Government buyer page, is radio frequency or a cable. It does not use Wi-Fi. The power choice you fit yourself is a sealed long-life lithium cell, or a mains system. A 9 V alarm fails that buyer page. The standards named are BS EN 14604:2005 for smoke, BS 5446-2:2003 for heat, and a British Kitemark to EN 50291-1 for CO. There is no approved-supplier list. LINKD at about £99.99 is three smoke, one heat and one CO. The X-Sense HS21 has no CO. The FireAngel does not interlink. How to choose radio rather than Wi-Fi is on the buying guide.
Wales and Northern Ireland
For rented dwellings in Wales, regulation 5 requires a smoke alarm on each storey, on the electrical supply and linked to the other mains smoke alarms. A sealed battery radio kit does not meet that supply rule. Do not solve a missing mains system by screwing up a CPVAN kit. Northern Ireland's pattern is closer to the Scottish room list than to England's one per storey, and it is still a private-tenancy duty. Interlinked means the alarms sound together. It does not mean a Smart Life notification.
Common questions
Do English owner-occupiers have to interlink smoke alarms?
No. The England regulations in the GOV.UK booklet are a landlord duty, and even for those landlords interlink is not required. You need one smoke alarm on each living storey of a rented home, a CO alarm for the right combustion appliances, and a repair when a tenant reports a fault. An owner-occupier can follow Fire Kills and fit more, including a radio kit, because a shut bedroom door blocks a single alarm. That is a choice about warning, not the remedial-notice duty.
What must every Scottish home have?
A ceiling-mounted, interlinked set: smoke in the living room, smoke in every hall and landing, and a heat alarm in the kitchen. Add a carbon monoxide alarm if there is a boiler, fire or flue. The fire alarms interlink by radio or by cable, not by Wi-Fi. Battery systems use a sealed long-life cell. CO need not link to the smoke alarms, and a battery CO alarm must itself be sealed. The owner is responsible. There is no government list of approved amazon bundles.
Can a Welsh landlord use a battery radio kit as the legal smoke alarms?
No. The Welsh fitness regulations require the smoke alarms on each storey to be connected to the electrical supply and linked to the other mains smoke alarms. A battery RF kit can be an extra. It does not satisfy that supply rule. The work on the mains system is an electrician's job, not a weekend with adhesive pads. Extra battery heads, if you add them, are not the interlink the regulation is talking about.
What changed in Northern Ireland in 2024?
Private tenancies picked up a smoke, heat and interlink duty. New tenancies are covered from 1 September 2024 and existing tenancies had until 1 December 2024, according to the DfC guidance. The pattern in that guidance is a smoke alarm in the living room and in circulation spaces, a heat alarm in the kitchen, and interlink. Read the guidance for carbon monoxide and for the building you actually let. Do not copy an English one-alarm-per-storey summary into a Belfast rental and stop.
Does carbon monoxide have to be interlinked in Scotland?
No. Scottish Government material says the CO alarm need not link to the fire alarms. It is still required for a boiler, fire or flue, and a battery CO alarm has to be sealed. You can buy CO inside a LINKD, XINDUM or CPVAN kit, or as a separate sealed alarm beside an HS21 smoke-and-heat set. Linking it is optional. Omitting it, when the appliance is there, is not.
Does Scotland and England compliant on a product title count?
No. It is advertising copy. Scotland has no approved-supplier list, England does not require interlink, Wales requires mains, and Northern Ireland has its own dates. A standards bullet is a claim about that head. It is not a certificate that your rooms, your tenure and your nation are finished. Match the duties, then test that one button sounds every head you intended to link.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources listed below, plus amazon.co.uk shelf prices and ratings for these ASINs, last checked on 19 October 2026.
- Scottish Government: fire and smoke alarms in Scottish homes (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Scottish Government: where and what to buy (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Scottish Government: Tolerable Standard guidance on fire and carbon monoxide detection (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Scottish Government: changes to fire safety laws (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- GOV.UK: smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, England regulations Q&A for landlords (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- legislation.gov.uk: Wales regulation 5, smoke alarms (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- GOV.WALES: fitness for human habitation guidance (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- EDA summary of BS 5839-6:2019 changes (retrieved 19 October 2026)