Fire Risk Assessment in Lutterworth
Fire risk assessments for Magna Park warehouses, old-town shops and flats, and shared houses in Broughton Astley and Ullesthorpe. Most shops, offices, flats and HMOs cost £200 to £500, and warehouses are quoted on size. Harborough only licenses HMOs of 5 or more, but every workplace and shared house needs a written assessment.
Updated October 2026
Licensing in Lutterworth compared with Leicester and Loughborough
Harborough District Council uses only the national licensing rules. Most Lutterworth buildings needing an assessment are sheds, shops and offices, which no council licenses, so the last row matters most here.
| Harborough (Lutterworth) | Leicester city | Charnwood (Loughborough) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warehouse, trade unit, shop or office | No council licence anywhere. Whoever controls the premises must keep a written fire risk assessment under the 2005 Order | ||
| Small shared house (3 or 4 people) | Not licensed | Selective licence at £1,290, but only on streets in the designated areas | Additional licence at £700, anywhere in the borough |
| HMO of 5 or more | Licence at £980 for five years | Licence at £900 | Mandatory licence |
| Shared flat in a block built as flats (3+) | Not licensed | Outside licensing; so are conversions built to 1991 Building Regulations | Wholly tenanted converted blocks (section 257 HMOs) need an additional licence |
| Local scheme | None | From October 2022 in the selective areas; due for review October 2027 | Additional licensing to 31 March 2028 |
Licensing details taken from Harborough’s multiple occupation page and 2026/27 licence fees; Leicester’s HMO licensing and selective scheme pages; plus, for Charnwood, the borough’s additional licensing notice and scheme FAQ. Checked October 2026.
What assessors find in Lutterworth buildings
High racking in the Magna Park sheds
Magna Park covers about 500 acres on the old RAF Bitteswell airfield, and its owner GLP calls it the UK’s first dedicated logistics and distribution park. In March 2022 a fire in a Magna Park South warehouse started low in the pallet racking and climbed to the pallets above. The sprinklers sat above the top layer with no in-rack heads, so it took time for heat to set them off. Two heads then held the fire until crews went in. Assessors in these sheds check that stock is not stacked so high it shields the sprinkler heads, that aisles stay clear, and that any escape route running under or through racking is still usable.
Forklift charging and mezzanine offices
Nearly every shed has a bank of forklift chargers, often running overnight when nobody is in. Government guidance for warehouses lists charging units as a source of ignition and says areas giving off flammable gas should be ventilated. The other common finding is the two-storey office block built inside the shed, reached by a single stair. If that stair has stock or a workshop underneath it, a small fire can cut off everyone upstairs.
Big new units, many employers, lots of agency staff
GLP announced in December 2020 that the park would grow from about 9 million to nearly 16 million square feet. Four new Magna Park South units were let in 2021 to Amazon, Movianto, JD.com and Whistl, which the council said could create up to 1,600 jobs. That raises two questions. Who answers for yards and shared roads when a unit is split or sublet? And has every agency worker been shown the alarm, the exits and the assembly point on their first shift? The guidance says non-employees must be told the risks.
Timber frames behind the shopfronts
Lutterworth’s conservation area notes that timber framing was once common and is now mostly disguised, naming 2 to 8 Church Street and 11 and 12 Market Street. Even where walls were rebuilt, early timber floors or roofs often survive, and many town-centre buildings are still lived in. Where people live over a shop, the assessor checks what separates the two. Old boards over lath and plaster rarely hold fire back for long, and gaps around beams and pipes let smoke straight through.
Coaching inns, archways and a thatched pub
The Denbigh Arms, The Hind and The Greyhound each have an archway through to a rear yard. The Shambles on Bell Street is a Grade II listed, early 16th century timber-framed building with a thatched roof. In February 2023 fire ripped through that roof and eight fire engines attended. For inns with letting rooms, the assessor checks whether the yard route is still open at night, how guests are woken, and what in the roof space or near the chimney could set thatch alight.
Sources: Magna Park, Lutterworth; GLP, 16 December 2020; BAFSA sprinkler saves, Magna Park, March 2022; Warwickshire World, 6 August 2021; GOV.UK fire safety risk assessment: factories and warehouses; Harborough District Council Lutterworth Conservation Area; Historic England listing for The Shambles, Bell Street; Warwickshire World, 13 February 2023. Checked October 2026.
Real questions from people running warehouses
“Without installing a full fire alarm system is there anything else that would be acceptable?”Someone running a newly built 150 square metre industrial unit with an office at the front, writing to the Safelincs Fire Safety Forum, May 2024
In a unit this small, often yes. What matters is whether a fire in the office would be spotted in time by people in the warehouse. Cheaper options include a vision panel in the door between the two, or mains smoke alarms in each area linked so that both sound together. A roller shutter is not a fire exit, so the assessor will check that warehouse staff have another way out that an office fire cannot block. For a small Lutterworth trade unit, the assessment should record which warning was chosen and why it is enough.
“there is a storage room under the stairs where the maintenance man stores electric power tools , paints, little work bench.”A safety manager reviewing a company warehouse, writing to the Safelincs Fire Safety Forum, July 2019
This is the prefab office problem, and it turns up in Magna Park sheds and on the smaller estates around Lutterworth. When a wooden stair is the only way down from an upstairs office, anything stored beneath it can trap the people above. The usual fix is to move the paint and the workshop, then line the underside of the stair with fire-resisting board, typically to 30 minutes. The assessor will also check that staff upstairs can hear the alarm over the warehouse floor.
Sources: Safelincs Fire Safety Forum, 8 May 2024; Safelincs Fire Safety Forum, 15 July 2019.
Fires at Magna Park and in the town
| When | What happened | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| August 2005 | Fire destroyed Primark’s 430,000 sq ft Magna Park distribution centre and its office block, with damage put at £100m. The cause was not established | One shed can hold a whole retailer’s stock. Business continuity rests on the building’s fire protection |
| July 2020 | More than 3,000 pallets burned at Magna Park. Crews from Lutterworth and Hinckley worked for over seven hours | Pallet stacks in the yard need distance from buildings and from each other |
| March 2022 | Racking fire in a Magna Park South warehouse. Two sprinkler heads contained it and five crews attended | Sprinklers work when storage is kept within their design |
| February 2023 | Fire spread through the thatched roof of The Shambles. Eight fire engines attended | Thatch and timber framing need their own plan for how fire starts and spreads |
Sources: FashionUnited, 2 September 2005; Logistics Manager; Warwickshire World, 13 July 2020; Warwickshire World, 17 March 2022; Warwickshire World, 13 February 2023. Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service publishes its enforcement notices on the national register.
Example: a trade unit near Magna Park
Trade supplies warehouse on a shared estate outside Lutterworth
The unit: a single-storey steel-framed shed on a small multi-let estate, a short drive from Magna Park. The tenant runs a trade supplies business: pallet racking across most of the floor, a mezzanine office reached by one steel stair, and a row of forklift chargers along the back wall. Two other firms share the yard and the estate road, and around half the warehouse staff come through an agency.
Pricing: the operations manager sends a site plan, photos of the racking and charging area, and the shift pattern. Warehouses have no band in the price table, so the fixed quote depends on floor area, layout and the number of occupiers sharing the site. It is confirmed in writing before a date is booked.
During the visit: most of a morning, timed to catch a shift change so the assessor can see how agency starters are briefed. The walk takes in the racking aisles, the charging bay, the mezzanine and its stair, each fire exit and the shared yard.
Issues raised: shrink-wrapped stock is stacked hard against the chargers, which run overnight with nobody on site. Flattened packaging is stored under the mezzanine stair. Two agency workers in their first week have not been shown the assembly point. The rear exit opens on to the yard, where a neighbouring firm parks trailers across the route.
Ranked actions: urgent, clear a zone around the chargers and move the packaging from under the stair. Urgent, agree with the neighbour and the estate manager that the rear exit route stays free, and write it down. Within a month, add the alarm, exits and assembly point to the agency induction, and check that the mezzanine office can hear the alarm over the forklifts. Reassess after any change to racking height or layout, and at least once a year.
End product: a PAS 79-1:2020 style report for the tenant’s own unit, plus a short list of yard and estate-road points to send the estate manager so both assessments say the same thing.
Areas covered in Harborough district
Beyond the district, see Leicester and the wider county, or the Hinckley and Loughborough pages.
Questions from Lutterworth businesses and landlords
Do I need an HMO licence in Lutterworth?
Yes, once five or more tenants from at least two households share facilities. Below that, no: Harborough has no additional or selective scheme, and shared flats in purpose-built blocks of three or more are exempt. The 2026/27 fee is £980 for five years.
We lease a unit at Magna Park. Isn’t fire safety the landlord’s job?
Partly. Whoever controls each part of the site has to assess it. The tenant normally answers for the inside of the unit: racking, charging, offices, staff and drills. The landlord or estate manager answers for shared roads, yards and shared systems. The two must co-operate, so swap assessments.
How much does a fire risk assessment cost in Lutterworth?
Lutterworth enquiries split two ways. Warehouse and distribution units are priced one by one, on floor area, layout and how many occupiers share the site. Old-town shops and offices, including those with a flat above, cost £200 to £350. Shared houses in Broughton Astley or the villages, with three to five bedrooms, are £250 to £400. The cost guide has the full table.
Do agency workers need fire training on their first day?
They need it as soon as possible. Government guidance for warehouses says temporary and contract workers must be told the risks that affect them, and asks whether you have arrangements for informing agency staff. In practice that means a short induction on the alarm, the nearest exits and the assembly point before they start work.
My building is thatched or timber-framed. What will the assessor look at?
How a fire could start near the thatch, such as chimneys, roof-space wiring and outdoor heaters, and how fast smoke would move through old timber floors. If the building is listed, ask for options that keep historic doors, and run any works past Harborough’s conservation officers.
Do you cover Broughton Astley, Ullesthorpe and Market Harborough?
Yes, and every other part of Harborough district, Magna Park included. Your enquiry goes to one qualified local assessor; a fixed price is confirmed before the visit.
Request a Lutterworth quote
Give the postcode and describe the premises: a warehouse or trade unit, an old-town shop, a flat or a shared house. For a unit, include the rough floor area and how many firms share the site.
See the offices page or the cost guide, or call 0116 497 6683.