Landlord Alert: Your EICR Duties Before the Autumn Lettings Rush

September has a very particular energy in East London. The moving vans are back on the streets, the letting agents are running from viewing to viewing, and somewhere a landlord is standing in an empty flat wondering whether the wiring has been looked at since the Blair government. If that landlord is you, we’d like a word before the new tenant gets the keys.

Autumn is peak changeover season for rentals — students settling into new lets, professionals starting jobs, families relocating before the school term properly beds in. It’s also, conveniently, the best possible moment to sort out something landlords love to put off: the Electrical Installation Condition Report, or EICR.

What an EICR actually is

An EICR is a full health check of a property’s fixed electrics — the consumer unit, the wiring, the earthing and bonding, every socket and switch that isn’t going anywhere. A qualified electrician tests it, rates any issues by how urgent they are, and hands you a report in plain English (well, plain-ish — there’s a bit of code involved, but we translate).

It is not the same as a PAT test, which is for portable appliances like kettles and lamps. And it is not optional paperwork you can quietly forget about, which brings us to the less fun part.

The rules, in full

Under the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations, every rented home in England needs a valid EICR, and every EICR is only good for five years — sooner if the report itself says so. On top of that:

Timing that actually matters

A copy goes to existing tenants within 28 days of the inspection. A new tenant must have it in hand before they move in — not after, before. And if a prospective tenant asks for one in writing, you’ve got 28 days to answer that too.

If the report flags a problem

Any remedial work identified has to be carried out, by a qualified person, within 28 days of the inspection — or sooner, if the report sets a tighter deadline. This is the bit that trips people up: an EICR that comes back with faults isn’t the end of the process, it’s the start of one with a clock attached.

What happens if you don’t

Local councils can issue civil penalties of up to £30,000 for non-compliance, and repeated breaches can mean repeated penalties. We’ll drop the wry tone here, because this part isn’t a joke: an out-of-date or ignored EICR isn’t just a compliance box, it’s a genuine fire and shock risk sitting behind the walls of a home someone else is living in. Old fuse boards without RCD protection, degraded wiring, DIY additions from three tenancies ago — these are exactly the things an EICR is designed to catch before they catch someone out.

Why the void period is your friend

Between tenancies is the easiest window you’ll get all year. No one’s furniture is in the way, no one’s routine is being disrupted, and if any remedial work is needed you’ve got room to get it done properly rather than squeezed around someone’s work-from-home schedule. Booking the inspection the moment a tenancy ends, rather than the week before the new tenant arrives, gives you breathing room if anything needs putting right.

It’s also simply good practice beyond the legal minimum. A tired consumer unit, a socket that’s seen better decades, or wiring that predates the property’s last three owners — these things don’t announce themselves until they fail, and a fuse board upgrade or partial rewire is far less disruptive to sort between tenants than mid-tenancy with someone’s belongings around it.

Give us a shout

We carry out EICRs and any remedial work that follows — fuse box and consumer unit upgrades, rewiring, socket and circuit repairs — across East London, Dagenham and the surrounding areas, London-wide for genuine emergencies. NICEIC approved, City & Guilds qualified, no call-out fees, and available 24/7 when something really can’t wait.

Got a changeover coming up, or honestly not sure when the last inspection happened? Sort it before the keys change hands, not after.

Give us a call on 07502 396654.

New tenant, new season, no surprises in the fuse box.