DCLG working group says homes should be inspected every five years and a system of approved inspectors set up.
Letting agents and property managers in England and Wales will soon have to organise electrical installation checks of privately rented properties following the recommendations of a government report.
After a detailed examination of the subject, the working group set up by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has recommended that electrical installation checks should be compulsory for properties within the Private Rented Sector (PRS) and carried out every five years.
The working group also says a scheme should be set up to register and approve the people who will carry out the checks and separate electrical safety from the Building Regulations regulatory framework.
Led by five senior figures from the DCLG, the working group’s members included every membership organisation within the lettings industry including most of the main membership associations representing agents and landlords.
ELECTRICAL INSTALLATION CHECKS
The final recommendation is that the requirements for electrical installation checks should be phased in, starting with new tenancies before being rolled out to include existing ones.
But the rest of recommendations are not mandatory and include instead recommendations.
These include that landlords or agents should carry out visual checks of electrical equipment at a change of tenancy, that paperwork confirming that an Electrical Condition Report and any remedial work has been completed be given to both the landlord and new tenant, and that Residual Current Devices be fitted to a device to prevent electric shocks being suffered by tenants.
The working group, which met four times, says although safety standards are improving within the PRS, tenants within it still face a higher risk from ‘incidents’ from electrical faults than their social housing counterparts.
The new regulations, which are now likely to be enacted via the existing Housing and Planning Act 2016, are in addition to the existing regulations that make it a legal duty for landlords and their agent to ensure the wiring in rented homes is safe.
Source: https://thenegotiator.co.uk/electrical-installation-checks-rented-properties-become-compulsory/
