Fire Risk Assessment in Syston
Fire risk assessments for houses split into flats, new-build blocks, High Street shops and trade units in Syston, Thurmaston, Birstall and the Wreake villages. Most premises cost £200 to £500. Charnwood licenses converted blocks where every flat is rented, and a fire risk assessment goes in with the licence application.
Updated October 2026
Converted flats: Charnwood against Leicester and Melton
Syston sits where three councils meet: Leicester city starts just past Thurmaston, and Melton borough a few miles up the Wreake valley. For a house split into flats years ago, the rules differ more than most owners expect, because Charnwood is the only one of the three that licenses those buildings as a whole.
| Charnwood (Syston, Thurmaston, Birstall) | Leicester city | Melton borough | |
|---|---|---|---|
| House converted to flats, below 1991 standard, every flat rented | Additional HMO licence for the whole building | No HMO licence for the block. In the selective licensing areas each rented home needs its own licence | No licence |
| Same building, one or more flats owner-occupied | Outside the additional scheme, which only covers blocks wholly occupied by tenants | No HMO licence for the block | No licence |
| Purpose-built block of flats | No HMO licence | No HMO licence | No HMO licence |
| Shared house, 3 or 4 unrelated people | Additional HMO licence | Licence only inside the selective areas | No licence. Mandatory licensing only, for 5 or more people |
| Fee for an HMO licence | £700 | £900 mandatory; £1,290 selective | £669 plus £334 for a first application |
| Common parts fire risk assessment | Needed in every case above | Needed in every case above | Needed in every case above |
Sources: Charnwood Borough Council additional licensing designation (whole borough, 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2028), licence fees and HMO licensing FAQ; Leicester’s HMO licensing and selective scheme guidance; Melton Borough Council HMO page (updated August 2026); Housing Act 2004, section 257. Checked October 2026.
What assessors find in Syston buildings
Shops and rooms on Syston High Street
Syston’s conservation area was designated in October 1975 and holds 29 listed buildings, led by the Grade I church of St Peter and St Paul. The council’s appraisal picks out the many timber shop fronts that survive on High Street, and notes that few buildings rise above two storeys. Where a shop has a flat or office above, the route out often runs down a rear stair into a yard, past bins and stock. Altering a door or stair in a listed one can need consent first.
Older houses split into flats
The 1891 census found framework knitting was the main source of work in Syston, and the appraisal also records a boot factory at the end of Brook Street. Very little of that industry is visible now. What remains is older housing, and some of it has since been divided into flats. Where that work did not meet the 1991 Building Regulations, these are the buildings Charnwood’s section 257 rule is aimed at. The assessor asks whether the flat doors hold back smoke, whether the floors between flats give real separation, and whether the shared hall has any detection.
New-build blocks at Thorpebury and Hallam Fields
Thorpebury, Charnwood’s 4,500-home development on the north east edge of Leicester, will join the A607 between Thurmaston and Syston, and its first phase is being built now. In Birstall, Hallam Fields started in 2006 with up to 900 properties. A purpose-built block needs no HMO licence, but its shared hall, stairs and bin store need a fire risk assessment from the day the first residents move in. Since the Fire Safety Act 2021 it also covers the outside walls and flat front doors.
Retail and trade units along the A607
Thurmaston has the Earls Way Industrial Estate, and the North Thurmaston industrial estate was rebuilt before Costco opened there in 2012. In multi-let parks like these, each tenant must assess its own unit and the landlord must assess the shared service yards, corridors and plant rooms. A fire exit locked for security affects every unit that relies on it.
Aircraft sheds and old factory sites in the Wreake valley
Taylorcraft began building light aircraft at Rearsby in 1939, and the firm became Auster after the war. Aircraft manufacture stopped in 1969 and the site is now Rearsby Business Park, with about 200 people working there in 2017. East Goscote stands on the site of a wartime Royal Ordnance Factory, with housing built from 1962. When old sheds are split into smaller units, mezzanines and partitions get added over time. The assessor checks that each new floor or office still has a clear way out.
Sources: Charnwood Borough Council, Syston conservation area and its appraisal (adopted March 2007); Charnwood Borough Council, Thorpebury development (updated October 2026); Birstall; Thurmaston; Rearsby; East Goscote; West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, Fire Safety Act 2021 summary. Checked October 2026.
Real questions from owners of converted flats
“The HMO Team are active at the moment and now say it’s a Section 257 HMO”An owner of a building converted into three flats in 1988, writing to Property118, September 2025
This is the letter a Syston owner gets when every flat is let and the council doubts the conversion met the 1991 standard. The owner has to prove it did, usually with a completion certificate. Without that, Charnwood will expect a £700 licence application with a fire risk assessment attached. The assessment also sets out which upgrades would make the shared hall and flat doors safe.
“Someone has suggested that there is a new law now to provide safety lighting in the hallway”A co-freeholder of a house split into flats, writing to OpenRent Community, April 2025
There is no law that says every converted hallway needs emergency lighting. National housing fire safety guidance says normal lighting is usually enough in a conversion of two to four storeys, with emergency lighting added if the risk calls for it. The council’s appraisal notes that few houses in old Syston rise above two storeys, so in most local conversions the lighting is not the main issue. The new laws are different ones. Since 16 May 2022 the Fire Safety Act has brought flat front doors and outside walls into the assessment, and since 23 January 2023 residents of any building holding two or more flats with common parts must be handed written fire safety instructions. The co-freeholders are usually the responsible people.
Sources: Property118, 22 September 2025; OpenRent Community, 10 April 2025; LACORS Housing Fire Safety guidance (paragraph 23 and table C5); GOV.UK, Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, information to residents.
Is my Syston building licensable?
Work down in order and stop at the first step that settles it. The last column applies whatever the answer.
| Step | If yes | If no | Fire risk assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Is it a house shared by 3 or more unrelated people? | HMO licence from Charnwood: additional for 3 or 4 people, mandatory for 5 or more | Go to step 2 | Needed for the shared kitchen, hall and stairs |
| 2. Was the building built as flats from the start? | Purpose-built block. No HMO licence | It is a conversion. Go to step 3 | Needed for the common parts, plus outside walls and flat front doors |
| 3. Does the conversion meet the 1991 Building Regulations, and can you prove it? | Not a section 257 HMO. No HMO licence | Section 257 HMO. Go to step 4 | Needed for the common parts |
| 4. Is every flat rented out? | Additional HMO licence for the building, £700, until the scheme ends on 31 March 2028 | No licence under Charnwood’s scheme, but still an HMO in law if fewer than two thirds are owner-occupied | Needed for the common parts, and sent in with any licence application |
Sources: Housing Act 2004, section 257; Charnwood Borough Council additional licensing designation and HMO licensing FAQ (updated December 2025). Checked October 2026. If unsure, ask Charnwood’s housing team.
Syston conversion: what the assessment involves
Edwardian house split into three flats, Syston
The block: a two-storey Edwardian house converted into three flats in the 1980s, with one flat downstairs and two upstairs. All three are let. The front door opens onto a shared hall and stair, with the electricity meters in a cupboard under the stair.
Getting a price: the freeholder sends pictures of the hallway and each flat entrance, and admits there is no completion certificate for the conversion. The assessor quotes £380 fixed, a mid-band figure for the shared parts of flats (£300 to £500). A date is picked when all three tenants can be in to open up.
Walk-round: roughly ninety minutes. Hall, stair and meter cupboard first, then every flat entrance door inspected inside and out, then an alarm test.
Problems found: the flat front doors are the original panelled doors with no self-closers. There is a single battery smoke alarm in the hall. The meter cupboard has no door. A gap has been cut around a pipe through the floor above the ground floor flat and never filled.
Priorities: high priority to fit fire-resisting, self-closing flat front doors, or upgrade the existing ones where that is practical, and to seal the gap in the floor. Medium priority for linked mains-wired detection in the hall with a heat detector inside each flat’s entrance, the layout national guidance suggests for a two-storey conversion, and a fire-resisting door on the meter cupboard. A note to apply to Charnwood for an additional HMO licence with the report. Review in 12 months, or sooner if a flat is sold.
Paperwork: a written report in the BS 9792:2025 format for housing, listing each action by priority. It is also the document Charnwood’s licence form asks for.
Areas covered around Syston in Charnwood
Across the city boundary and beyond, start from the Leicestershire home page, or see Loughborough and Hinckley.
Syston fire risk assessment questions
Does my converted block of flats in Syston need a licence?
Only if the conversion does not meet the 1991 Building Regulations and every flat is rented. Charnwood’s additional licensing scheme covers those section 257 buildings across the whole borough from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2028. The fee is £700, and Charnwood wants a fire risk assessment sent in alongside the form.
I own one flat in a converted house. Whose job is the fire risk assessment?
The assessment covers the shared hall, stair and anything else the flats rely on, so it falls to whoever controls those parts. That is usually the freeholder, a management company or the co-freeholders together.
Does a new-build block in Thurmaston or Birstall need a fire risk assessment?
Yes, from the day residents move in, even though it needs no HMO licence. The assessment covers the common parts and, since the Fire Safety Act 2021, the outside walls and each flat’s front door. Our blocks of flats guide explains more.
How much does a fire risk assessment cost in Syston?
Most Syston jobs are the shared parts of flats, priced at £300 to £500 whether the building is a 1980s conversion or a newer block in Birstall. A High Street shop or small office, including one with a flat upstairs, is £200 to £350. Trade units are priced on floor area. The cost guide lists what changes a price within each band.
My Syston shop is in the conservation area. Does that change anything?
The fire safety duty does not change, but work on a listed building may need consent from the council first. Syston’s conservation area has 29 listed buildings. Ask the assessor which actions touch historic fabric and for options such as upgrading an existing door rather than replacing it.
Do you cover Queniborough, East Goscote and Rearsby?
Yes, along with Thurmaston, Birstall, Barkby, Cossington, Sileby and the rest of Charnwood. Your enquiry goes to one qualified local assessor. Expect a fixed quote, not a vague estimate. It is based on the details you give, and if the building turns out different, the assessor confirms any change before starting. For HMO rules that apply to shared houses, see the Leicester HMO guide.
Quote for a Syston building
Tell us where it is and what kind of building: flats in a converted house, a newer block, a High Street shop or a trade unit. For a conversion, say whether you have the building regulations completion certificate.
Useful first reads: blocks of flats and the cost guide. Phone 0116 497 6683 if easier.