Housing standards
In this section
Electrical safety
Find information on this page about landlord responsibility for electrical safety and the Council's powers to enforce.
Inspection every five years
Landlords must ensure the fixed electrical installations in their properties are inspected and tested at least every 5 years by a competent electrician.
The initial inspections need to be carried out before any new tenancy is granted from 1 July 2020, and 1 April 2021 for existing tenancies.
Tenants must be provided with an electrical safety report
Landlords are required to provide their tenants with electrical safety reports: in the case of new tenants, before they move in; to existing tenants within 28 days of receiving it; and to any prospective tenant within 28 days of their request to view the report.
Landlords failing to provide tenants with an electrical safety report at the start of their tenancies will be in breach of the regulations and may face a civil penalty of up to a maximum of £30,000, with the potential for multiple penalties to be imposed for a continuing failure.
Landlords: What to do if you receive an Unsatisfactory Report from an electrician
If a landlord or letting agent receives an Unsatisfactory Report from an electrician, they have 28 days to fix the problem and email us proving that the problem is fixed.
Please email the Unsatisfactory Report and the subsequent Satisfactory Report or certificate proving the works are complete to ehl@horsham.gov.uk within 28 days.
If the work is not carried out in time, then the Council has the power to carry out the required works themselves (on providing prior written notice to the landlord) and recover their costs from the landlord.
Our enforcement powers
The Council has the power to demand sight of the report and the landlord must provide this within 7 days of the request. Failure to do so could result in a penalty charge.
If the Council has reasonable grounds to believe that the landlord is in breach of the Regulations, it also has the power to serve a remedial notice on the landlord to compel them to comply with the Regulations.