The latest changes in Electrical Safety obligations for landlords.

Are you renting your leasehold apartment?

You may wish to check if the law changes in England that came to force last year apply to you (1).

These changes relate to Electrical Safety of Rental Properties.

Law states that the buildings and apartments must have EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report (7)) in place before having new tenancy agreement in place (more about that later)(2). EICR report must be in date, which means that it cannot be more than 5 years old, and all the electrical installations, fixtures and fittings are safe (3).

From 1st July 2021, landlords who fail to conduct an EICR (and any work it recommends) before a new tenancy commences will face a fine of up to £30,000.

Local authorities will be responsible for enforcing the new rules, as specified under the Housing Act 2004 (4). EICR must be conducted by competent person, which in practice means someone who is registered with one of the Government-approved Scheme (5, 6).

The copy of newly obtained certificate must be shared with the tenants in situ, and the old certificate must be shared with tenants and/or local authority if it is requested. If there are issues raised in the EICR report, they must be remedied in 28 days.

Finally, the legal definition of new tenancy has changed, so you may have an existing tenant continuing to live on your premises, and yet you may have entered into new agreement with them, and become liable for a fine.

NRLA, National Residential Landlords Association (8) advises that the law changed three years ago, which means a rolled over periodic tenancy is considered to be a new tenancy when the initial tenancy agreement just lapses into a periodic tenancy.

However, if there is a clause in existing tenancy agreement that specifically states that the existing tenancy will become (contractual) periodic tenancy, in such case new tenancy is not created, and old tenancy agreement remains in place.