Creative Green Energy Services for Landlords
According to the most recent data tenants in the private rented sector face a higher risk of electrical shock and fires caused by electrical faults in their homes compared to social housing tenants.
As well as making homes safer for tenants, electrical installation improvements benefit the landlord as a material improvement to their properties, helping prevent fires which could cause costly and significant damage.
Landlords are required by law to ensure:
✔️ mandatory 5 yearly electrical installation checks for Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs)
✔️ the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 requires landlords to keep installations in the property, including the supply of electricity, in good repair and proper working order
✔️ building regulations since 2010 have required all circuits in new or rewired homes to comply with the wiring rules in BS 7671 and include the installation of a Residual Current Device (RCD) covering any new circuits in the consumer unit since July 2008
✔️ local authorities have powers, through the Housing Act 2004, to take action where there are electrical hazards in a property
✔️ that the electrical installation in a rented property is safe when tenants move in and maintained in a safe condition throughout its duration.
✔️ that a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) has a periodic inspection carried out on the property every five years.
✔️ if your property is not an HMO, you are not legally obliged to do this. However, we recommend that a periodic inspection and test is carried out by a registered electrician on your rental properties at least every five years.
✔️ that any appliance provided is safe and has at least the CE marking (which is the manufacturer’s claim that it meets all the requirements of European law).
To meet these requirements a landlord will need to carry out regular visual checks to ensure that the electrical installation and appliances are safe and working.
What Your Regular Visual Check Should Include – identify and remedy:
~ Broken accessories (such as sockets and light switches).
~ Signs of scorching around sockets due to overloading.
~ Overheating of electrical equipment (such as lamp-holders fitted with the wrong lamps) – usually detected by a strong, often fishlike, smell.
~ Damaged cables to portable electrical appliances or trailing cables/flexes.
~ Lack of RCD protection for circuits, particularly those supplying equipment in the bath/shower room or garden
PAT Testing
Not specifically required within regulations for private rentals, however, one of a landlords mandatory duties is to ensure ‘that any appliance provided is *safe* and has at least the CE marking. PAT testing is a check that covers this, along with regular visual check to ensure electrics are in good condition.
Dangerous electrics can contribute to a serious risk of fire, extreme cold, and insufficient lighting. As such, landlords who do not check the property may face enforcement action such as an improvement notice under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, also unresolved repairs prevents the serving of a section 21 notice.
In addition, from March 20th 2019, if the property becomes uninhabitable or is rented in a state considered unfit for human habitation then the landlord may be sued for breach of contract by their tenants.
?That a visual check of the property is conducted at the start and during a tenancy
?Making sure that your property has adequate RCD protection (a modern fuse board with trip fuses to each circuit)
?Use a registered electrician for any work on your property
?Carry out regular safety checks on the electrical appliances provided as part of the rental agreement
?Make sure that during re-decoration works existing electrical fittings don’t get splatter or over painted, as this could impede their proper operation
?The more often a landlord carries out these checks, the easier it becomes to spot hazards and defects, inform your tenants of their responsibilities with written advice, highlighting the things that increase the risk of fire. Keep a log on the dates of the check, hazards founds, what you did to remedy
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