FIRE SAFETY TOP TIPS FOR YOUNG PROFESSIONAL RENTERS

1.     Inventory, Inventory, Inventory: This vital piece of paperwork can also serve as a fire prevention checklist. Ensure that smoke alarms in your new property work and test them regularly. Also worth checking that gas appliances work properly and that electrical appliances have undergone testing. If not, tell your letting agent or landlord.

2.     For those cold winter evenings: Everybody knows how expensive it is to heat a house in January, but for young professionals it can prove to be a bank breaker. So, when you consider plugging in that portable heater for 20 minutes to save a few 'pennies', make sure you put some distance between the heater and any clothes or furnishings. Try to avoid overloading those plug sockets as well. After all, a burnt down house or flat can prove costly too.

3.     Hot date? It sounds obvious, but it can really ruin an evening when the tablecloth catches fire. Makeshift candleholders are a serious risk, and all it takes is a lapse in concentration and before you know it, that leg of lamb in the oven isn't the only thing overcooked. Use only proper candleholders and never leave them unattended.

4.     From pub to bed, not to kitchen: Cooking appliance fires make up a large proportion of domestic incidents in the UK. For that reason, head to the kebab shop rather than the kitchen after a night on the town. Accidents happen far too easily when drunk, yet the difference between falling asleep in the hallway and falling asleep at the hob is a significant one.

5.    Smoking kills: While young professionals are not the only ones still smoking, it's important to remember to put out cigarettes properly and never to smoke in bed. Ensure ashtrays are emptied regularly and that nothing is still alight when using a rubbish bin.

Vatche Cherchian, Camden Lettings Manager, had a first-had experience with a domestic fire and warns, "I never thought my home would catch fire but it is important to be wise with anything that may lead to potential danger as even the smallest fire can spread in seconds, putting lives in immediate danger and cause thousands of pounds of damage."