Electrical safety certificate? Private rental

barbiedoll

Hi there.

My stepdaughter and her toddler currently live in an ex-local authority, privately rented flat. She has had two electrical fires in the last two months, the most recent of which started in the main fuse box. The earlier fire was in a plug socket in the kitchen which has her cooker plugged into it (Gas cooker, only plugged in to provide power to "spark" ignition, cooker works without being plugged in)

The landlord who actually receives the rent apparently doesn't own the property, he is letting it out "on behalf of a relative". She reported both fires to her landlord/agent (who receives the money) and the actual landlord came round to fix the electrics earlier this week. The fire brigade were called to the second fire, which resulted in the whole block being evacuated for a few hours. The fire brigade told her that they will write a report detailing their suspected reasons for the fire.

Understandably, neither she nor we have much confidence in the landlord's repair, we would like an independent safety inspection to ensure that her home is safe. How do we go about this, do we have to pay for it or does the landlord have responsibility for this? Will the fire brigade set anything in motion, should we speak to them also? Neither of the two "landlords" are very good at keeping the property in a good state of repair, the kitchen flooring is in a very poor condition, the boiler is not hot enough to heat the radiators and the door and window locks don't work, meaning that she cannot open most of her windows nor her balcony doors. She is reluctant to report the landlord as she has not paid a deposit for this property (she has rented other properties from him when she was living with her partner) and she does not want to be evicted as she has no deposit for another flat.

Any advice would be appreciated. (Mostly about the electrics, the other stuff we can deal with later, we just need her to be safe for now)

Thanks.

Dave_the_Ginger_Cat

I've lifted this from http://www.propertyinvestmentproject.co.uk/blog/landlords-requirements-for-electrical-safety/ mostly as it's quicker than my typing - the advice seems bang on:

Landlord Legal Obligations to Electrical Safety

There is currently no law that states a landlord must perform annual electrical safety checks (or any checks at all), so it’s not quite as cut and dried as Gas Safety regulations in rental properties, which stipulates the landlord is legally obligated to get an annual Gas Safety Certification. However, there are various regulations that do apply, but in nearly all cases their requirements only state that systems and equipment must be safely installed and safely maintained.


Failure to provide safely installed and maintained electrical appliances can lead to prosecution as it is a criminal offence. Possibly penalties for failing to comply are as follows:

• Your property insurance may be invalidated
• A fine of £5,000 per item not complying
• Six month’s imprisonment
• The Tenant may also sue you for civil damages
• Possible manslaughter charges in the even of deaths

These regulations are enforced by the Health & Safety Executive. To avoid legal prosecution, it is advisable for landlords to have periodic checks done by a qualified electrician.

*I would recommend she finds a new place to live as soon as is practical. Whilst she has no deposit, it seems a very real risk that this will recur without repair.

This is from the Electrical safety council: http://www.esc.org.uk/public/guides-and-advice/faqs/

I have contacted my landlord on several occasions but they won’t do anything about my faulty installation, what should I do?

As first port of call, contact the Building Control department of your Local Authority; they should be able to advise you of your rights as a tenant.
Citizens Advice may be able to provide you with further help; you can find their contact details via our consumer links page.

Good luck, as a very minimum get some loud smoke alarms and unplug everything when not in use where she can.

illgetthroughthis

Edit: above post by dae the ginger cat is better..read that

Fire_Fox

She does not have two landlords she has one landlord and one 'agent', the former is legally liable for repairs, maintenance, health and safety. Is your stepdaughter reporting all problems to the landlord themselves in writing using the address at which to serve notices on the tenancy agreement? Keep copies of all correspondence and recorded delivery receipts/ proof of posting. Anything urgent reported verbally should be followed up in writing.

Contact Environmental Health at the local council, possibly also the Health and Safety Executive regarding the fires and any other elfin safety issues. EH will inspect, can enforce the landlords repairing obligations or deem the place uninhabitable. Hopefully she wants to be dead less than she wants to be homeless. Is she on the council housing list?
http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/repairs_and_bad_conditions

ETA the house is ex local authority, council is therefore likely the freeholder (owns the block the flat is situated in) and have a direct contract with the leaseholder/ landlord in the form of the long lease. They will take a dim view from that perspective of a dangerous property in their block putting their other tenants at risk. Not sure who would deal with that, EH probably.

barbiedoll

Thanks for all replies..FF, no she's no longer on the housing list, the council removed her as she is now deemed to be in "suitable housing". I never thought of the council as the freeholders, some of the other tenants in the block do rent from the council, I shall get her to contact them via EH.

To Dave and igtt, thanks for the link, that's very helpful.

Some "electrical man" (?) came round today to inspect the fusebox and stated that all is now fine, we don't know who exactly this was, we are going to see her at the weekend so we'll find out more then. She has working smoke alarms, the fire brigade fitted brand new ones for her after attending to the fire.

I'll tell her to make sure that she complains in writing in future, usually she just calls/texts the landlord and he responds when he is ready. He normally comes round quite quickly but nothing ever seems to be repaired to a satisfactory condition. And it's always a "relative" or "friend" who turns up to do repairs, we have no way of knowing if these people are professionals. It's ok having a DIYer to repair a kitchen floor (for instance) but at over £1000/month rent, I think she's entitled to a qualified repair after an electrical fire!