News from 6 April 2026
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Residential Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan duties took effect in England on 6 April 2026. They concern certain taller residential buildings and residents who may need help to leave safely in a fire.
What has changed
The Fire Safety (Residential Evacuation Plans) (England) Regulations 2025 are now in force. They introduce duties around Residential Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans, usually shortened to Residential PEEPs, and around building-level emergency evacuation plans.
In broad terms, the rules are designed to support residents whose ability to evacuate independently may be affected by a physical mobility issue, a sensory impairment such as sight or hearing loss, or a cognitive condition. The aim is not a generic one-size-fits-all form. It is a more person-centred process built around identifying risk, discussing practical measures and recording what should happen in an emergency.
Which buildings are in scope
The regulations apply in England to multi-residential buildings that contain two or more domestic premises and are either at least 18 metres high or seven or more storeys, or are more than 11 metres high and operate a simultaneous evacuation strategy.
That means many smaller landlords with standard low-rise single lets will be outside scope. But landlords with flats in taller blocks, mixed ownership buildings, or stock held through more complex management arrangements should not assume this is someone else’s problem without checking where responsibility actually sits.
What the responsible person has to do
The legal duties fall on the building’s responsible person under fire safety law, typically the building owner, manager, management company or another person with control over the building or its common parts. In some cases that may be the landlord; in others it may be a freeholder or managing agent. Either way, landlords with interests in relevant buildings may still need to understand how the process is being handled.
Where the rules apply, the responsible person must use reasonable endeavours to identify relevant residents who may have difficulty self-evacuating. They must offer a person-centred fire risk assessment and, where the resident accepts, ensure that assessment is carried out. They must then use reasonable endeavours to agree an emergency evacuation statement setting out what the resident should do in the event of a fire.
There are also duties around sharing prescribed information with the local Fire and Rescue Service, but only where the resident gives explicit consent. The regulations also require a building-level emergency evacuation plan, information to be placed in the secure information box where required, and regular review of the arrangements.
