TORY government plans to strip back fire safety regulations from accommodation used to house asylum-seekers are “utterly shameful and could have tragic consequences,” the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has warned.

The union, which has long stood in solidarity with vulnerable refugees, slammed the “callous and reckless approach” from Downing Street, which is coming under increasing pressure to move a huge backlog of asylum-seekers out of taxpayer-funded hotels and into cheaper accommodation.

The government’s own failure to process claims quickly is to blame for the worsening situation, campaigners argue.

According to plans published in May, Whitehall wants to exempt accommodation provided on behalf of the Home Office for asylum-seekers from needing an HMO licence.

A HMO is any home rented out to three or more tenants from more than one household.

Under current licensing requirements, landlords letting out such a property must provide evidence of certain safety precautions being taken, including gas safety certificates and working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, while also ensuring adequate amenities and space.

The licensing process imposes a duty on councils to check that these conditions are being met.

The government’s own website boasts that an impact assessment of the change “has not been produced as no significant impact on the private or voluntary sectors is envisaged.”

FBU assistant general secretary Ben Selby said: “It’s utterly shameful that the UK government is cutting back fire safety risk assessments for accommodation used to house asylum-seekers.

“This policy could have tragic consequences with the loss of life and injury.

“The government is taking a callous and reckless approach to the wellbeing of asylum seekers.

“It is also playing fast and loose with the safety of firefighters whose safety could be put at risk in any blazes caused by these lax safety arrangements.

“By stripping away the requirements for an HMO licence, the government is effectively stating that the lives of asylum-seekers — who have fled persecution, war and disaster – are somehow of less value.”

Mr Selby added that “everyone has the right to live in safe accommodation, regardless of where they were born,” and firefighters “don’t check passports when they rescue people, and fire safety regulations cannot discriminate either.”

Labour has already blasted the move, with the party’s MP for Greenwich and Woolwich Matthew Pennycook warning it would mean refugees being housed in accommodation without gas safety certificates, safe electrical appliances and furniture, working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and decent shared amenity facilities.

“It’s not bringing down standards in HMO asylum accommodation, it is exempting them entirely,” he told Sky News.

Announcing the change last month, a government spokesperson claimed the new approach “will not compromise standards.”

“All properties will be independently inspected to ensure they continue to meet national housing quality requirements covering issues such as overcrowding and fire safety,” he said.