What are your landlord's electrical safety duties in 2026?
Every private landlord in England must have the fixed electrical installation in your home inspected at least every 5 years by a qualified person, give you a copy of the report, and fix anything the report says needs remedial work within 28 days. Those duties come from the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020, and councils can fine landlords up to £30,000 per breach for ignoring them.
That's the headline. Underneath it sit repair duties that go back decades, extra rules for shared houses, and council enforcement powers for homes with dangerous electrics. This guide covers what each one means in practice for tenants.
What is an EICR and when should you have seen one?
The report the 2020 Regulations require is usually called an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR). It covers the fixed installation: the consumer unit (fuse box), wiring, sockets, light fittings and similar, tested against the national wiring standard BS 7671:2018. It doesn't cover plug-in appliances.
Your landlord must:
- have the inspection done at least every 5 years, or sooner if the last report says so;
- give new tenants a copy before they move in;
- give existing tenants a copy within 28 days of each inspection;
- supply the report to the council within 7 days of a written request;
- complete any remedial work the report requires within 28 days, or faster if the report specifies.
If you've never seen an EICR, ask for it in writing. A landlord who can't produce one either hasn't had the inspection done or is withholding a document you're entitled to, and your council's private sector housing team can demand it directly.
Who has to repair faulty wiring, sockets and fuse boxes?
Your landlord. Separate from the inspection regime, section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 requires landlords to keep the installations for the supply of electricity in repair and proper working order. That covers dead sockets, tripping circuits, damaged light fittings, exposed wiring and a failing consumer unit. Any tenancy clause claiming to shift those repairs to you is void (s.12), and the duty applies to almost every private and social tenancy.
The obligation starts when the landlord has notice of the fault, so report electrical problems in writing straight away and keep a copy. The landlord then has a reasonable time to act, and with electrics that should be short, because the risk is fire and shock rather than inconvenience. Your home must also be fit for human habitation throughout the tenancy (s.9A), and unsafe electrics are one of the matters that can make it unfit.
What about appliances? The 2020 Regulations only cover the fixed installation. There's no general legal requirement for portable appliance testing in an ordinary private let, but any appliances the landlord supplies should be safe, so report faulty landlord-supplied white goods in writing the same way.
Yes. In a house in multiple occupation (HMO), the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006 add day-to-day management duties: regulation 6 requires the manager to keep the electrical installation safe, with an inspection at least every 5 years, alongside an annual gas safety check. These duties apply to every HMO, licensed or not, and breaching them is an offence.
Larger HMOs (5 or more people from 2 or more households) need a licence, and councils check electrical compliance as part of licensing. If you're in an unlicensed HMO of that size, the landlord is committing an offence carrying an unlimited fine, councils can impose civil penalties of up to £40,000, and tenants can claim back up to 2 years' rent through a rent repayment order.
What can the council do about dangerous electrics?
Quite a lot. Councils assess housing hazards using the Housing Health and Safety Rating System under Part 1 of the Housing Act 2004, and electrical hazards score highly. Where an inspection finds a serious (category 1) hazard, the council must take enforcement action, typically an improvement notice requiring the landlord to carry out works by a deadline. Failing to comply with an improvement notice is an offence, with a civil penalty of up to £40,000 available as an alternative to prosecution (the cap rose from £30,000 on 1 May 2026).
For social housing tenants, Awaab's Law is also expanding: phase 1 (emergency hazards, damp and mould) came into force on 27 October 2025, and phase 2 extends fixed response timescales to further hazards including electrical safety from 30 November 2026.
If you think your home's electrics could hurt someone, tell the landlord in writing, then go to the council if nothing happens. Our guide to contacting environmental health explains the inspection route step by step.
What are the warning signs of unsafe electrics?
Report any of these in writing as soon as you spot them:
- burning smells, scorch marks or warm sockets and plugs;
- circuits that trip repeatedly or fuses that keep blowing;
- flickering lights with no bulb explanation;
- buzzing from sockets, switches or the consumer unit;
- an old-style fuse box with no RCD (the test button is the giveaway);
- damaged cables, loose sockets or DIY-looking wiring.
While you wait for a repair, don't overload extension leads, and don't attempt fixes yourself beyond changing a bulb. Photograph what you can safely photograph, because dated pictures matter if the dispute escalates.
Does the Renters' Rights Act 2025 change electrical safety?
Not directly, but it strengthens your position. Since 1 May 2026 there's no Section 21, so a landlord can't answer a repair request with a no-fault eviction notice; they'd need a legal ground a court will test. The Act also provides for a Decent Homes Standard to be applied to private rentals, with the detailed standard and start date still to be set, and the government has said it will consult on extending Awaab's Law timescales to private landlords.
The practical routine for tenants hasn't changed: ask for the EICR, report faults in writing, give a short deadline for something as serious as electrics, and involve the council if you're ignored. The enforcement tools are there, and councils use them.