Northern Ireland’s new smoke alarm laws – what to look out for?

Josiah Johnston is a student who lives in the Holylands area of Belfast, a part of the city predominantly used for private rental student housing.

He told BBC News NI that the smoke detectors in the house he lived in were not working.

“If there was a fire going off, we wouldn’t know. It’s a safety hazard,” he said.

Jenny Steele, who also lives in the Holylands, agrees.

She said that she has always found housing in the area wasn’t “up to scratch” when it came to fire safety.

However, due to the cost of student accommodation, she felt she had little choice.

Mr Johnston said the new law was “a good thing”, but had arrived too late.

“A lot of fires that have happened in the Holylands would have been stopped by this legislation,” he said.