Gas safety, electrical safety, fire safety and carbon monoxide safety

The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 apply to all tenancies.

Landlords are required to:

• Ensure that the electrical safety standards are met during any period of a tenancy.
• Have the electrical installations in their properties inspected and tested by a qualified and competent person, at least every five years, or more frequently if the most recent report requires this.
• Provide a copy of the report (known as an Electrical Installation Condition Report or EICR) to their tenants, and to the local authority if requested.
• If the EICR requires investigative or remedial works, ensure that this is completed.

When we are undertaking any kind of investigative work into a privately rented property, including single family homes and Houses in Multiple Occupation, we will request a copy of the latest EICR within 7 days, as allowed for by Regulation 3 of the above legislation.

We also require this document to be submitted as part of a valid licence application to operate a House in Multiple Occupation.

Where an EICR is not provided, or a certificate is “Unsatisfactory”, we may issue a formal Remedial Notice as allowed for by Regulation 4 of the above legislation. Non-compliance with this notice could lead us to using the Council’s appointed electrical contractor to carry out an electrical inspection and any necessary works, for which our contractors’ costs plus officer’s time will be charged back to the landlord.

We will also consider whether it is also appropriate to issue a financial penalty notice for this offence of up to £30,000.

All mandatory HMO licences will have a licence condition requiring the submission of this document on request.

When taking enforcement action under these Regulations, we will reference the government guidance issued to local authorities.

Guidance for landlords detailing their obligations under these Regulations is available on the government website.

For more information on our enforcement approach, see our Private Sector Housing Enforcement and Civil Penalties Policy.