Electrical safety testing will soon become mandatory within the private rental sector. As many estate agents and property owners will find, the ever-growing list of rules and legislation for private lettings can often be incredibly time-consuming and costly. With this in mind, the introduction of new legislation can sometimes be seen as a negative move for property-owners, agents and tenants. However following the Government’s latest announcement, we know we won’t be the only estate agents that are in full favour of the new decisions regarding electrical testing for privately rented properties.

Electrical safety testing and private rental in 2019 – What is going to change?

Last month, the Government kicked off 2019 with a brand new announcement concerning all those who are either already renting a property out or are considering it. They will be focusing on creating legislation that requires all privately rented properties to have passed certain electrical safety testing before it can be rented out. Although this might seem like an obvious law that we should already have, previously there has been a very grey area in regards to electrical testing for private properties. Currently, landlords do have a responsibility to ensure that any electrical installation in the house is safe and risk-free for their tenants. However, they don’t actually need any of this formally checked, which means there is a potential safety risk for the tenants. This is also a huge responsibility for landlords to have, so by introducing formal checks as standard procedure, it will eliminate any doubt of a landlord’s responsibility.

Electrical safety testing for private lettings

Going forward, once the legislation has been passed officially, landlords will be required to have mandatory electrical safety testing checks every five years. These checks will also be required to be conducted by someone who is suitably qualified – again relieving the pressure from landlords and letting agents. In addition to these new compulsory checks, landlords will also be encouraged to carry out visual checks throughout the five-year period themselves. With landlords checking too, there is a much lower risk of an unnoticed electrical fault being left for a long period of time. Once the property has been professionally checked by a qualified electrician, the house will be issued a certificate to show that its electrical testing has taken place. This will be valid for five years and then the property will need reviewing again in order to renew the certificate.

More information on legislation for private landlords

Here at G Herbert Banks, we are looking forward to the official implementation of this new procedure. As members of the Association of Residential Letting Agents, we and the Association are in full support of the requirements which will need to be met.

If you would like to find out more information about the Government’s plans for electrical safety testing then head to our website today. Alternatively, call 01299 896968 to speak to a member of our helpful and experienced team.

If you have found this blog helpful, you may wish to read our previous article on the Tenant Fee Ban.