Photographs released this week showing the aftermath of a devastating house fire in Leeds have circulated widely, capturing the charred remains of a residential property and the scale of destruction fire can inflict in a matter of minutes. While the human cost of any such incident is the immediate concern, the images also serve as a stark reminder for the UK property industry of a risk that rarely features prominently in investment appraisals: fire safety in ageing residential stock, particularly in cities like Leeds where Victorian and Edwardian terraces, back-to-backs and converted houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) form a substantial share of the private rented sector.