Over 56,000 false fire alarm callouts in purpose-built flats: What can property teams learn?
False fire alarms cause disruption for residents, consume property teams’ time and can contribute to alarm fatigue. New government data analysed by Drax Technology shows the scale of the problem.
Fire and rescue services attended 56,105 false fire alarms at purpose-built flats in England in the year ending March 2026 – around 153 every day and a 4% increase on the previous year.
Purpose-built flats also accounted for 22% – more than one in five – of the 255,047 false fire alarms attended across all property types in England.
What’s causing false alarms?
Cooking was the most common cause, responsible for more than 13,500 incidents, including alarms triggered by burnt toast. Steam and alarms being needlessly or carelessly activated were other common causes.
Significantly, on 12,232 occasions, alarms were found to be faulty, damaged, poorly maintained or incorrectly positioned.
The impact can extend well beyond the building. On five occasions, more than 15 fire and rescue vehicles were mobilised to incidents that proved to be false alarms.
David Simpson, Group Product Director at Drax Technology, said:
“False fire alarms disrupt residents, create extra work for on-site property teams and, if they happen too often, lead to ‘alarm fatigue’, where people become less likely to react when an alarm sounds.
“Every alarm needs to be investigated rapidly and giving teams the right information from the outset makes that much easier.”
Turning alarm data into insight
Remote fire system management technology can give property teams greater visibility when an alarm activates, while capturing data that can help identify recurring faults and patterns across buildings.
For BTR and PBSA operators managing multiple properties, this can also contribute to a stronger digital record of how incidents have been managed.
Simpson added: “Rather than treating every alarm as an isolated event, teams can respond more effectively, learn from what happened and build a stronger ‘Golden Thread’ of how each incident was managed.”
With more than 56,000 incidents in one year, using alarm data to identify problems and target maintenance could help property teams reduce repeat incidents, minimise disruption and make more informed fire safety decisions.
Data source: Home Office, Fire statistics incident level datasets – False alarms dataset 2025–26. Figures analysed by Drax Technology.
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