Consumer unit problem for house buy following survey

andy444

Hi, I am currently in the process of purchasing a house and I have had a Homebuyer's Report done and one item that was highlighted was:

Mains electricity is connected to the property with the consumer unit being located in kitchen. The consumer requires to be updated to a more modern unit comprising miniature  circuit breakers to improve your personal safety and comply with the current standards.  This could be a safety hazard.  You should ask an appropriately qualified person to inspect the electrical installation and carry out any necessary repairs/updates soon. 

Is this going to cost a lot to rectify once I move in and just how dangerous is it? Is it worth me asking the vendors to drop the agreed price of the property by £1k or so to take into account the added purchase I'm going to have to undertake to sort out the consumer unit situation? 

m0bov

Just needs updating, I'd factor that into your costs, how old is it? Does it have circuit breakers at all? Pic?

If its the very old fuse wire cartridge type, needs sorting ASAP. I'd get a sparky to do an electrics check of the house anyway and get some quotes.

Don't let anyone else pay for it.

MaryNB

A new consumer unit should cost you less than £500. 
Was it a C2 or C3 on the report? Unless it's currently posing a significant hazard I wouldn't even consider dropping the price if I were the sellers. You're not buying a new build so not everything will be up to current regs. 

Robin9

Have you had an electricians report on the installation ?  If so that's the one to go by

andy444

I don't know what type it is or have a photo. I've asked the estate agents if the vendors could provide a photo of it.

It was a C3 item in the report. Electricity is the only source of power for the property so I'd like to know that there's little risk that I'll suddenly lose all power.

user1977

andy444 said:

I'd like to know that there's little risk that I'll suddenly lose all power.

There's almost no risk of that, no matter what sort of installation is there. 

MaryNB

andy444 said:

I don't know what type it is or have a photo. I've asked the estate agents if the vendors could provide a photo of it.

It was a C3 item in the report. Electricity is the only source of power for the property so I'd like to know that there's little risk that I'll suddenly lose all power.

A C3 just means that it doesn't comply with current regulations. Unless you're buying a new build it would be quite unlikely to find an up to spec consumer unit in a property. People don't get their electrics upgraded every time new regs come out, there's no need.  You are perfectly entitled to ask for a reduction but if I were the seller I wouldn't even entertain it. 

Hasbeen

Most houses in the country are probably not up to date re current regs

Cat 3 = Improvement reccommended.

Marvel1

You could get it done today to meet current regulations, in a few months time, new current regulations come in, you don't change it.

Falafels

andy444 said:

 Electricity is the only source of power for the property so I'd like to know that there's little risk that I'll suddenly lose all power.

No matter how modern or wonderful your consumer unit is, if there's a power cut locally you'll lose power. The power tripping within the property is usually due to faulty electrical items (especially kettles and washing machines) or the circuit being overloaded.

If your consumer unit looks like this, there is a problem: 

But even if it's been there for a few years, and looks like this, don't worry:


They change the regulations so frequently that very few properties are going to meet current regulations, as has been said elsewhere, but this does not mean for a minute that the installations are necessarily dangerous or ineffective.

andy444

Thanks everyone, it seems that it's not a real issue. Good to know!