New regulations have been passed which give the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government powers (from 25 October 2019) to impose duties on private residential landlords in England to carry out mandatory electrical safety checks when premises are occupied under a tenancy.
The Housing and Planning Act 2016 stated that if further regulations are introduced then the Secretary of State may impose obligations on private residential landlords in England to carry out mandatory electrical safety checks. These powers have now been granted.
The electrical safety checks are likely to require that private landlords ensure all electrical appliances, fixtures and fittings, and installations for the supply of electricity meet a certain standard. These checks may also require certification from qualified persons.
Now that the Secretary of State has the power to impose mandatory electrical safety checks on residential landlords it is likely that draft legislation will shortly follow once parliamentary time allows.
Here at Simply-Docs we will publish further details on this as developments unfold and will update our documents if necessary once any legislation on this is passed.