Can I get alarm monitoring in a rented property?

Yes, though you will usually need your landlord's written permission because fitting a communicator and any new detectors involves altering the property. Where an alarm is already installed, adding monitoring is often possible with minimal change, and the monitoring contract can be in the tenant's name.

Two situations. If an alarm already exists, a takeover survey can often add a communicator with little or no alteration, which is the easy case. If there is no alarm, installation means cabling or fixing devices, and that needs the landlord's consent.

Sort out in advance who holds the contract and what happens when the tenancy ends: whether the monitoring transfers, whether the hardware stays, and who pays any early-termination charge. A twelve-month monitoring contract on a six-month tenancy is a predictable problem.

If you want police response, note that the URN attaches to the address, and the maintenance contract requirement means the landlord will need to be comfortable with an ongoing arrangement on their property.

For landlords, monitoring on an empty or between-tenancy property is often worth more than during a tenancy, since that is when nobody is there to hear anything.