From 6 April 2026, the Fire Safety (Residential Evacuation Plans) (England) Regulations 2025 come into force. If you manage residential buildings — whether care homes, student accommodation, HMOs, purpose-built flats or sheltered housing — this legislation will affect you directly.
The regulations introduce new requirements to identify residents who may need assistance during an evacuation and to put documented, personal plans in place for them. Here's everything you need to know.
The regulations apply to Responsible Persons for multi-occupied residential premises in England. If you manage or own a building where people live — particularly vulnerable people — this applies to you. The duty sits with the Responsible Person under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
What do the regulations require?
At their core, the regulations require Responsible Persons to:
- Identify residents who may need assistance during a fire evacuation due to a physical or cognitive impairment
- Engage with those residents (or their representatives) to understand their specific needs
- Produce a Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP) or Emergency Evacuation Information Sheet (EEIS) for each identified resident
- Keep these documents current and review them regularly, or when circumstances change
- Share relevant information with local fire and rescue services where appropriate
What is a PEEP?
A Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP) is a documented, individual plan for a specific person who may need assistance evacuating a building in an emergency. It sets out:
- The individual's specific needs and limitations
- The assistance they will need during an evacuation
- Who is responsible for providing that assistance
- Any specialist equipment required (such as evacuation chairs)
- The planned evacuation route for that individual
PEEPs have long been considered best practice in workplace fire safety, but the new regulations extend this approach formally to residential settings for the first time.
What is an EEIS?
An Emergency Evacuation Information Sheet is a simpler document used where a full PEEP is not required or not practical. It records the individual's location in the building and their needs, and is intended to be shared with the fire and rescue service so they can prioritise assistance if needed. The EEIS is designed for situations where the building manager cannot directly guarantee evacuation assistance — for example, in a large block of flats where individual residents may be home alone.
How does this affect care homes?
Care homes already operate under some of the most stringent fire safety requirements in the UK, including existing guidance to produce PEEPs for all residents who need them (under HTM 05-02 and associated guidance). For most well-run care homes, the new regulations should represent a formalisation of existing practice rather than a new burden.
However, the regulations introduce a clearer legal requirement where previously it was guidance, and they extend the documentation and review obligations. Care home operators should:
- Review their existing PEEP process against the new requirements
- Ensure all residents with mobility, cognitive or sensory impairments have current plans
- Confirm their fire risk assessment reflects the PEEP programme
- Train staff on the plans and their individual responsibilities
How does this affect property managers?
For property managers of general residential buildings — blocks of flats, sheltered housing, HMO clusters — the challenge is different. You may not have direct knowledge of your residents' disabilities or health conditions, and you cannot compel residents to disclose this information.
The practical approach is to:
- Communicate proactively with all residents, inviting them to identify themselves if they would like a PEEP or EEIS
- Make reasonable enquiries — particularly at sign-up or tenancy renewal
- Document your efforts to identify and support residents who may need assistance
- Produce EEISs for those who come forward, and share with the fire service as appropriate
The regulations are fundamentally about making a genuine effort to understand and plan for the needs of vulnerable residents — not about paperwork for its own sake. A Responsible Person who can demonstrate they have proactively engaged with residents, documented their findings and acted on them is in a much stronger position than one who has done nothing.
What should you do before April 2026?
- Review your current fire risk assessment — does it address the needs of vulnerable residents?
- Audit your current PEEP or EEIS provision — do you have plans for everyone who needs one?
- Implement a resident engagement process to identify those needing assistance
- Train relevant staff on evacuation procedures and their responsibilities under PEEPs
- Establish a review cycle to keep plans current
Erif can support you with fire risk assessments that incorporate PEEP requirements, staff training programmes and documentation reviews. Contact us to discuss your specific buildings.