On 25 October sections 122 and 123 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 came into force.
The Housing and Planning Act 2016 (Commencement No. 11) Regulations 2019 bring into force s.122 and s.123 of the 2016 Act. These provisions do not bring any electrical safety standards into force at present but do permit the Secretary of State (SoS) to make regulations for electrical safety standards in the future.
With these provisions the SoS may now impose duties on a private landlord in England who lets a property under a tenancy. These electrical safety standards may relate to the wiring installation in any rented property and electrical fixtures, fittings or appliances which a landlord may provide.
The SoS will also decide how often these checks need to be carried out and by whom. Following the Electrical Safety consultation which closed earlier this year we understand that it is likely that these checks will need to be carried out every 5 years. Our post on the consultation can be read here.
Once the electrical safety standards are in force it will be for local authorities to enforce them. Local authorities will have the power to impose financial penalties on landlords and enter their properties to make good any failures to comply with the standards at the landlord’s cost.
There is currently no clear date as to when these electrical safety standards will come into force and with Brexit in the way it is unlikely to be this year. However, the government appears to be committed to bringing these powers into force and as such we expect them to be implemented next year.
Disclaimer
The contents of this blog post is not legal advice and is provided for general information purposes only. If legal advice is needed readers should contact a solicitor. No responsibility for any information contained within this post is accepted and PainSmith solicitors accepts no liability in respect of the contents or for action taken based on this post.
Published 29 October 2019
