False alarms in
Richmond upon
Thames.

31st of 33
in London.

Richmond upon Thames is near the bottom of the London table for automatic fire alarm (AFA) false alarms. The Brigade attended 684 there in 2025, 1.5% of the London total, which places it 31st of 33. They made up 33.5% of everything the Brigade attended in the borough, close to the London figure of 34.1%. The count is not adjusted for population or for the number of buildings.

The 2025 total was 200 lower than in 2024 (-22.6%). It is the lowest annual total in the series, which starts in 2019. The highest was 908 in 2023.

From 1 January to 31 July 2026 the Brigade attended 434 AFA false alarms in Richmond upon Thames, against 374 in the same dates of 2025 (+16.0%, a larger rise than London’s +10.0%). 2026 is a part year and should not be set against a full one.

Daytime attendance
at workplaces: -54.4%.

Since 29 October 2024 London Fire Brigade has not attended automatic fire alarms at most non-residential buildings between 07:00 and 20:30 unless a person also calls 999 to report a fire. Homes, schools, hospitals and the other premises on its exemption list still get a response at any hour.

In the year before London Fire Brigade changed its response on 29 October 2024, it attended 241 AFA false alarms at non-residential buildings in Richmond upon Thames between 07:00 and 20:30. In the year after it attended 110 (-54.4%). That is close to the London figure of -53.4%. Residential attendances, which the policy does not affect, also fell, from 596 to 519 (-12.9%), though across London they rose (+4.5%).

Mostly homes,
not workplaces.

Homes and other residential buildings account for 515 of the 684 (75.3%), and non-residential buildings for 24.7%, close to the London split. The property type with the most was “Self contained Sheltered Housing” (128, 18.7% of the borough total), followed by “House - single occupancy” (122). Across London the leading type is “Purpose Built Flats/Maisonettes - 4 to 9 storeys”.