Allen Realty Property Managers Offer Free Smoke Alarms
Offering free smoke alarms to landlords is the latest innovative service Auckland Property Managers Allen Realty is
offering to improve the safety of tenants in rental accommodation.
The Auckland property management specialist has won many awards for its previous innovative products and services, and
the opportunity for free smoke alarm installation is a continuation of this.
In what is believed to be an industry first, Allen Realty is offering all new landlords a free smoke alarm installation
package when they list a property with Allen’s for a limited time.
Allen Realty believes providing a safe environment for families leads to stable long-term tenancies, which is just what
landlords and property investors are seeking.
There has been some debate about whether property owners should be required by law to provide smoke alarms for rental
properties, but Allen Realty supports this move. The law now requires that all new houses and consented alterations
provide a means of detection and warning in the event of a fire, but does not apply to properties built prior to the
2004 legislation.
The smoke alarm package will see Allen Realty cover the costs of installing as many smoke alarms as required to comply
with the Building Act. Long-life, photo-electric type alarms are being used, which are a bit more expensive but are the
ones recommended by the New Zealand Fire Service.
Allen Realty says the importance of working alarms can not be too stressed. Every year the New Zealand Fire Service
attends 3500 house fires. In 80 percent of the fatal fires they attend, smoke alarms are either not installed or not
working. Many deaths happen at night when people are sleeping and don’t smell the smoke.
Simon Allen, General and Marketing Manager, and previous award winner of REINZ Property Manager and Business Development
Manager of the Year says, “Installing free alarms is a great way to offer a point of difference that not only benefits
property owners but also tenants by encouraging safer environments. Everything we do everyday is to encourage stable
long-term tenancies and making properties safer by offering this free service certainly assists to meet this goal.”
Allen Realty has also offered all of its existing clients a reduced price to take up the smoke alarm
installation/maintenance programme and over 150 properties have been completed already, with additional properties still
awaiting completion.
The installation/maintenance programme involves a specialist technician attending and servicing/replacing/installing as
many smoke alarms as required for a property to meet all legal requirements. “This involves relocating some smoke alarms
and a lot of alarms are being replaced due to being faulty or expiry dates that have passed,” says Simon.
In addition to the free alarm, Allen Realty has backed a safety campaign to reduce the number of accidents in driveways
by handing out hang tags for rear vision mirrors to all tenants. The hang tags deliver the simple message: “Stop. Look
for kids when you’re reversing”.
The hang tags combined with the smoke alarm initiative are just two more examples of why Allen Realty continues to be
recognised for providing outstanding and innovative service to property investors and tenants.
Ends