Possible rewiring???

lilyann1

Just had an offer accepted on a 4 bedroom house we are buying and they have come back and said yes will accept the offer ,even though it is low as the home buyers survey may show up it needs partial or complete rewiring.Does anybody know how much this will cost????

BobProperty

Roughly £1500-£4500 depending on what needs doing, how easy it will be to do it, what you want to add/change while they are re-wiring the place and where you are in the country. And don't quote me, I'm not an electrician.

Sir_Walter_Raleigh

Don't forget to get a Part P certificate from the electrician for the work.

silvercar

Don't all homebuyers survey say the property MAY need rewiring?

*Wonder how everyone not selling their homes lives in relative safety without rewiring on a regular basis*

Sting_2

The rules and regs have changed a lot since I had my house rewired 3 years ago. At that time I got an electrician in, he rewired the house in a week (3 bed semi) and I paid him £1,900. He did a great job and I have had no problems at all.

Now the rules have changed and all electricians have to be 'approved'. Although this will make it more expensive, you have got some comeback.

When was the house built? if it is an 'old' house (more than 10 years old) it may need some work, any less it should be fine.

The best way would be to get a qualified electrician round to have a look. I don't know if it is still called this, but the NICEIC used to do 'periodic inspection reports' (cost about £70 when I had one done 3 years ago). You might be able to get this done before you exchange contracts.

There are advantages of having a house rewired, you can get additional sockets put in (great if you have a TV, video, DVD player, SKY box and lava lamp all in the same area!) We had an outside lights, outside sockets and the garage wired in.

If you have put in a low offer it looks like you have already accounted for the work that needs doing. If it is possible try and get the rewiring done before you move your stuff in as it is a nightmare otherwise!

notakid

The regs of rewiring seems to change every year I would say most houses need some update on their wiring. As long as there are no sockets in the skirting or old rubber wiring you should be okay. The wording is in ALL homebuyers reports unless proof given at survey of recent work this is for insurance reasons as well.... if at survey it was mentioned and you didn't get the work done and the house burnt down. Speak to the surveyor who did your homebuyers and check if he really thought there was a problem. But as I said before, the regs change all the time.

natwill_3

I had a two bed flat rewired in London...cost £1000 approved person but I paid cash.

It had come up in homebuyer so I did it..but since learnt that alot of homebuyers will say this

Also pay cash, still get warranty but alot cheaper :beer:

Ian_W

Sting wrote: When was the house built? if it is an 'old' house (more than 10 years old) it may need some work, any less it should be fine.

A house isn't "old" unless it's over a 100yrs, 10 and it's only just out of nappies [and warranty]. I would however check out the wiring on any property that is pre-70s vintage.
You don't have to comply with current buildings regs, because they change all the time but generally aren't retrospective. What you should be concerned with is that the wiring is safe.

margaretclare

Ian_W wrote:

A house isn't "old" unless it's over a 100yrs, 10 and it's only just out of nappies [and warranty]. I would however check out the wiring on any property that is pre-70s vintage.
You don't have to comply with current buildings regs, because they change all the time but generally aren't retrospective. What you should be concerned with is that the wiring is safe.

Our house was built in 1932 and yes, it did need re-wiring, I had this done in the mid-1990s, can't remember what it cost. The original wiring wasn't even on a ring-main. I also wanted the electricity meter to be sited in a box outside so that the meter-reader could read it. Also, in old houses you often find that in the bedrooms there isn't a central light fitting - for some strange reason it's in front of the window and not centrally (apparently they thought that the dressing-table should go with its back to the window and a light hanging above it. The fact that the dressing-table mirror blocks off the light wasn't a consideration.)

When my late first husband and I bought our first home in 1962 there was ONE power socket to every room. Even in the kitchen, there were only 2 power-sockets. Imagine that now - the kind of electrical appliances we all take for granted.

Margaret Clare

BACKFRMTHEEDGE

We had our London house rewired in 2002 - cost £3500...four beds. :money:

rsvtoddy

Margaret Clare

The lights were put near the window so that it wouldn't cast a shadow of your body on the curtains - can you imagine the shame and embarassment of that!!!

I kid you not!

Mark