House fires in Dumbarton at Silverton, Kirktonhill and Westcliff.
By Bill Heaney
Alarm bells are ringing in Holyrood over concern that people are being held to ransom due to exorbitant costs for fire alarms.
Jackie Baillie, the MSP for Dumbarton constituency, which includes Helensburgh, Dumbarton and the Lochside, has been advised that constituents are being quoted £300 to £400 for the required devices.
Estimates by the Scottish Government for an average three-bedroom house requiring three smoke alarms, one heat alarm and one carbon monoxide detector is £220.
Constituents have also reported problems with getting installations done, alongside exorbitant price rises.
The new laws have been beset by problems, including a lack of public awareness, concerns over affordability, and even a shortage of the necessary equipment.
These new laws were postponed from 2021 due to the pandemic, but little has been done over the last year to raise awareness or help households meet the new standards.
As a result, it is reported that hundreds of thousands of households still fall short of these standards – prompting concerns that their insurance policies will be voided when the new laws come into place. There is still no clarity over the consequences for citizens who don’t have these measures in place in time.
Jackie Baillie, Dumbarton constituency MSP, pictured right, said: “This is really worrying news that just days before these laws come into force on February 1st, people are being held to ransom by being quoted exorbitant rates for these devices.
“People are unclear about what is required and panicking that they are having to fork out several hundreds of pounds. Many of these people are older and vulnerable and therefore in a position where they feel that they have to pay whatever it takes to get this arranged in time.
“The SNP ruled out a further delay but it is not too late to do the right thing and change their mind.”
Catherine Czerkawska, an author and Democrat reader, told us: “That’s four nights in a row that the smoke alarm in my wee office (just off our bedroom) has woken us at 4 or 5am with 2 or 3 or 4 random cheeps.
“This is the sodding ‘joined up alarm’ as mandated by what – at 4am anyway – I called the effing Scottish government, even though we already had a couple of perfectly good smoke alarms.
“I recalibrated the whole system. It still elected to wake us up at 4.am. I work in there every day and there’s not a peep from it. It’s off now so we could sleep.
“There’s more danger from me climbing up and down ladders in the early hours of the morning. If it didn’t potentially affect our house insurance, we would have told the government to do one.”
Andy Wightman, a former MSP who resigned from Holyrood, said: “There is a lot of misinformation and confusion around the new regulations on fire and CO alarms that come into force 1 Feb 2022 and in relation to which there was a statement in Parliament today.
“The regulations add the interlinked fire and CO alarms to the list of criteria in s86(1) of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 that define whether a house meets the statutory tolerable standard.
There is no legal requirement to fit such alarms. It is not an offence to not have them fitted. What it does mean is that your house will not be of a tolerable standard.
“Councils have powers to ensure that homes are upgraded to ensure that they are of a tolerable standard but must use those powers in a proportionate manner.
“Insurance companies might or might not insist on interlinked fire and CO alarms being fitted before offering insurance but they can do that whether these regulations exist or not.
“In short, it is a good idea to have these fitted, to bring your home up to the new tolerable standards, to provide greater safety and to avoid any issues arising in future over insurance or potential sale of a below tolerable standard dwelling. “
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