The new Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector will come into force on the 1st July 2020.
The regulations are for new tenancies initially and will require landlords or their agents to ensure their properties are subject to electrical inspection and testing. This will result in a satisfactory report that is carried out by a qualified, competent person at intervals not exceeding five years.
It will apply to all existing tenancies from the 1st April 2021.
Despite the Coronavirus crisis, the standards are still being introduced as planned with the government issuing guidance making it clear that landlords and their agents are still responsible for providing safe homes during the pandemic - but that if they can show that they have taken all reasonable steps to comply with their duties under the regulations, they are not in breach of the duty if they cannot comply.
Mike Andrews, chief executive of the National Association of Professional Inspectors and Testers - which has issued new guidance for the sector - says: "Electrical Safety is at the forefront of everything we do, and we have worked hard on this guidance to make it easy for landlords to understand their requirements. We have also launched a dedicated online search facility on our website helping landlords search for competent and qualified tradespeople that they can trust to carry out their electrical inspections.
"As well as this we have created a new Landlord Electrical Installation Safety Record for our members to use which provides a summary of the often lengthy Electrical Installation Condition Report."