Mandatory EICRs in Rental Properties - 1 year or 5 years

[Spazz]

Please post your comments on here - state if you think EICRs should be done every year or 5 years.
Also please state your reason behind your choice - please don't put money!, profit for us, cost to landlords etc!

I will put this forward to Parliament in favor of which one is considered best by the experts in the field (us)

Please sticky this as well please

 

[trev]

You ever been to Byker?
Crikey that place is grim

 

[Geordie Spark]

You ever been to Byker?
Crikey that place is grim

Aye ..... there's a street called Raby Street & a pub called the Raby Arms. DON'T ever get bitten in Byker !!!!

 

[Deleted member 26818]

This proposal sounds like a good idea at first glance.
However it is fraught with problems.
In England & Wales there is no particular standard that an installation has to be constructed to.
Unless it is first a statutory requirement for an installation to meet the requirements of a particular standard, it will not be possible to require an installation to be inspected to ensure that it complies with a particular standard.

 

[somersetsparks]

Like Tony says , another way of of robbing and criminalising the general public, leave us alone please,
I have tested many properties most can pass a PIR (or EICR) and I would consider safe enough to let my own family live in,

There are many just causes in this world,
This is not one of them

 

[Spazz]

I have had the Welsh Housing Minister come back to me in regards to this:

He said he thinks its going to cost the landlords more than they are currently spending now



I need an idea of how much landlords/homeowners are spending on an annual basis when they are in crisis mode only


I am thinking about £300 - £500 depending on what goes wrong (per year)


I also have to state the annual cost of EICRs every year and MEICR every change of tenant
Im thinking:
£450-£500 - first year (New CU and MEICR (IR, Zs and RCD Test)
£250 - £300 - every year (EICR and MEICR

Any other ideas on this would be greatly appreciated

I am also thinking - this should decrease insurance policies (reducing risk of fire, electric shocks, etc)

 

[Geoffsd]

Oh, dear. :willy_nilly:

 

[Octopus]

Not sure I'd be spending so much of my time on this. If and only IF this came into force the drive by testers would be out in force and the resulting EICR's wouldn't be worth the paper they are written on.

 

[somersetsparks]

Any costs incurred would go straight onto the rent,
I am a landlord And my property is obviously well kept up together with gas and is to 17th, easy when you know how ey? Knowing my tennant, I would not Test this property again for 10 years, as they are careful, there is enough sockets not to need any extras, RCBO's etc.

I have a fair amount of testing experience probably nearing 1000 houses and I can tell you, other then DIY Disaster houses most remain in the same condition for years, it is just the DIY tennants which cause the issues,
and as has been said WHY SHOULD WE HAVE TO PAY TO CHECK THAT IDIOT TENNANTS HAVENT MADE THE INSTALLATION HAZARDOUS?
If they modify it against their tenancy agreement that is their fault , and theirs only.

This is just another buearocracy waiting to be introduced, another hurdle to jump over and another way of criminalising the common man,

The fact is, even in the very unlikely event of someone getting a shock from dodgy electrics it is very rarely fatal, as has been said before, this is a very minor issue,
It does not need legislation, there are plenty of major issues for the government and the public to be dealing with.

You get good landlords and you get bad, this will cost the good landlords money - and the bad won't bother anyway

 

[Spazz]

Not sure I'd be spending so much of my time on this. If and only IF this came into force the drive by testers would be out in force and the resulting EICR's wouldn't be worth the paper they are written on.

You say that - one thing he did say is:

In terms of social housing, the welsh Housing Quality Standard provides for electrical lighting, wiring and power installations to be checked and certificated safe by an appropriately qualified person.

He also said:
I will be keeping a close eye on this issue in the context of future legislation.

 

[trev]

Nicholas, the social housing providers usually have a set maintenance programme which includes inspection and test. I grew up in a council house and remember them coming round.

 

[Mark_Burgess]

certificated safe by an appropriately qualified person.

That would be the same "appropriately qualified persons" that run these drive by EICR's currently!!!

 

[Spazz]

Any costs incurred would go straight onto the rent,
I am a landlord And my property is obviously well kept up together with gas and is to 17th, easy when you know how ey? Knowing my tennant, I would not Test this property again for 10 years, as they are careful, there is enough sockets not to need any extras, RCBO's etc.

I have a fair amount of testing experience probably nearing 1000 houses and I can tell you, other then DIY Disaster houses most remain in the same condition for years, it is just the DIY tennants which cause the issues,
and as has been said WHY SHOULD WE HAVE TO PAY TO CHECK THAT IDIOT TENNANTS HAVENT MADE THE INSTALLATION HAZARDOUS?
If they modify it against their tenancy agreement that is their fault , and theirs only.

This is just another buearocracy waiting to be introduced, another hurdle to jump over and another way of criminalising the common man,

The fact is, even in the very unlikely event of someone getting a shock from dodgy electrics it is very rarely fatal, as has been said before, this is a very minor issue,
It does not need legislation, there are plenty of major issues for the government and the public to be dealing with.

You get good landlords and you get bad, this will cost the good landlords money - and the bad won't bother anyway

I do agree why should we pay to check that idiot tenants haven't made the installation a hazard!
But you say that its their fault and only their fault - but think about it this way if a tenant modifies something and a landlord does not have it checked then the next tenant is killed (worse case) who is to blame?

THE LANDLORD because they have a legal responsibility to ensure that the electrical installation is safe at the start and during the whole tenancy!
I agree that this is not right but the problem is that this is the case!


somersetspark - you seem like a decent landlord - and like you say everyone that you checked is fine - again responsible landlords but what about those you don't check?

The problem is that those who are not responsible are the ones who let the whole lot down - same as with sparks and everything else!

 

[oldtimer]

Nicholas I mentioned the cost implications in post 13 dont get me wrong you have tried but the deal is politics and they are going to look after business first and this government is saying there is too much regulations plus small business needs less costs not more the problem is there are 2 types of landlord (excluding my daughter) one is proactive and keeps their cash cow in good condition the second is the one who takes every penny then lurches from one disaster to another when things go wrong.

Me I would stipulate a RCD CU and mains smoke detector fitted before the property can be rented plus as I have said a £120-£150 EICR every 5-6 years and a £60-£75 mini EICR for a change of tenants within the 5-6 year period. Remember gas gets more prominanse because of the deaths in rat infested properties years ago but right now and sadly unless there is more electrocutions then any new proposals will be shelved remember landlords pay council tax and income tax so nobody is going to rock their boat so politicians will shout about gay marriage because it does not cost a lot plus its a non avent but I hate to say not one politician is going to put their head above the paripit because he/she wants to keep there cosy gold plated pension and salaries in these harsh economical times.

I forgot to highlight that I have seen some bad tenants as well so its not all the landlords fault as I have visite properties where they have trashed the flat pulled the smoke head off the ceiling cos its not for me to replace the battery plus it was getting on my wick

 

[Spazz]

like has been said by trev - these are social houses - privately rented houses should be the same standard!

 

[trev]

Then again Nicholas wny are you not concerning yourself with rented shops or pubs? Have you seen the state of what passes for a safe installation in most pubs?
If you did you'd probably never go in another one