Should I get an electrical survey?

fc320

Hi all, 

I'm buying a flat (maisonette in an old victorian terrace) in London. Had the Mortgage approved and survey done and back just before Christmas. Survey looks broadly ok which is good news, but I'm a bit concerned on the electrics based on some of the fascias hanging off (see below). 

I know the property was rented out until fairly recently - so seems odd that these would just be loose. (?) 

With regards to my next move, can anyone advise on whether I should look to get an NICEIC test certificate done myself (not sure what this entails/cost/timing?) Or do you think I could ask the sellers to provide this via my solicitor / the agent? Or would you just leave it? 

I'm keen to move quickly to try and be in the house in February, so I don't want to cause unnecessary delay. But I do think maybe better to be safe than sorry if it does need a big re-wire and I could ask the sellers to pay for it. Not sure what my chances of that are? 

Really grateful of advice on my next move! Imagine solicitors will be swamped over next few weeks so might not hurt to try and get a contractor to have a look in the mean time...

See survey below and recommendation to get solicitor to source these docs :  G1: Electricity: Recent test certificate. G2: Gas/oil: Recent test and inspection certification.

Windofchange

Standard catch all statement from the surveyor that I swear is just copy and pasted into every report that I have ever received or read. In essence, they don't have the skills to do an electrical safety test, there is no certificate present to indicate that one has recently been conducted, therefore the onus is upon you to satisfy yourself that you aren't buying a knackered electrical installation. Chances are in a victorian terrace that you get an electrician in and nothing / very little is going to be up to current regs, which doesn't mean its unsafe, it just means that it was all done before the current standards came in. Pretty much the same situation we were in a couple of years back when we brought our Victorian terrace, and indeed in terms of safety the vendor took all the light fixtures with her on completion day leaving exposed live wires hanging out of the walls. There is probably always a risk that a re-wire may be needed, and for me personally I would just ignore it and crack on.

Guess the question to you is what would the discovery of a serious problem lead you to do? Say an electrician did say a complete re-wire was required would you then go through the hassle of negotiating a lower price, getting your mortgage re-issued for this value, threaten to pull out of the sale etc etc?

aoleks

I mean an electrical cable coming through the floor and hidden behind a plastic cover is a bit... unusual. screams like amateurs or the cheapest possible fix. having said that, if that's the only socket in this state, there's probably no need to worry.

I'd be more interested in checking the circuit board and the wiring (the visible part), check for an earth cable and their colours (if you see brown and black, that means it's been rewired at some point).

Hedgepigs

Depending on how recently "fairly recently" is, as a rental it should have had a valid EICR. Have you asked? (Though of course "should" doesn't mean "will"!)

fc320

Thanks so much! Windofchange I'm with you on just cracking on and what it will actually achieve! Might just be more money and time wasted to confirm what is likely anyway. 

Aoleks - I think I remember there are only 2x sockets in this condition, so thank you that's really helpful. 

Hedgepigs - the agent told me that the tenants moved out in March 2021, but that there was no electrical inspection carried out as the place was being sold (I think that only came in as a requirement in 2020?) 

Perhaps best course of action here is to flag to solicitor the missing electricity and gas certifications (or maybe just via the agent, or both?) 

Thank you

user1977

fc320 said:

Perhaps best course of action here is to flag to solicitor the missing electricity and gas certifications (or maybe just via the agent, or both?) 

They're not really "missing" though as there's no obligation on a seller to provide them.

I wouldn't be particularly concerned about it in any event, unless there's signs of something seriously wrong.

canaldumidi

The seller was naughty and broke the law. As of April 2020 it was a legal requirement for all tenanted properties to have an electrical inspection. But not much you can do if that was not complied with- Trading Standards/council won't be interested now if the property is no longer tenanted/being sold - they are fully occupied with ongoing serious infringements!

If the seller can't be bothered to screw the sockets back that suggests to me it's not just a matter of screwing them back, sofor pease of mind I'd pay for an inspection.

Or just have a contingency fund (which you already have anyway yes?) and accept you might need to get electrical work done after purchase, but might not.

aoleks

I mean you WILL need to rectify the problems, that's not how quality electrical work is carried out, I was making the point that there doesn't seem to be a need for a paid electrical survey. if it's peace of mind you want, get an electrician to provide a quote, he will tell you whether anything needs doing now!

RS2OOO

There's nothing in the report that would put me off in the slightest.

Aesthetically, assuming you want to keep a socket in that location, you'd probably want to get that surface mounted socket chased into the wall before redecorating anyway.

With an older property (any property really) you will need to budget for ongoing maintenance and repairs regardless and work to the electrics is just one item on a long list of items likely to require future maintenance.

Also a certificate or EICR, if supplied by the seller, only gives you a picture of the condition at the time the EICR / work was carried out so there's no great peace of mind in having a copy anyway. 

So it boils down to whether you want to go through the process of paying for an inspection, accepting any delays that may cause to the purchase, and whether any findings are realistically going to result in a reduced selling price.

I personally wouldn't reduce price if a buyer commissioned and used an EICR to negotiate on a property I was selling, however I would make safe any findings deemed as dangerous before selling. 

That said, to sell a home with socket faces hanging off the wall does indicate a general lack of care which may extend to other parts of the property so there is some value in being cautious here.

youth_leader

I didn't pay for an electrical inspection as I learnt from this forum that rules are changing rapidly, it looked OK and I thought I'd deal with it once I'd completed. Now I realise I should have looked at the EPC more carefully.  I hadn't realised the reference to the lighting was because halogen bulbs are being phased out - there were 17 halogen spotlights here and to change to LED I needed to get all of the transformers changed.  Also the smoke/heat detectors were two years out of date.  It wasn't too expensive do.

3card

canaldumidi said:

The seller was naughty and broke the law. As of April 2020 it was a legal requirement for all tenanted properties to have an electrical inspection. But not much you can do if that was not complied with- Trading Standards/council won't be interested now if the property is no longer tenanted/being sold - they are fully occupied with ongoing serious infringements!

If the seller can't be bothered to screw the sockets back that suggests to me it's not just a matter of screwing them back, sofor pease of mind I'd pay for an inspection.

Or just have a contingency fund (which you already have anyway yes?) and accept you might need to get electrical work done after purchase, but might not.

The sellers 'probably' didnt do anything naughty.
Please see a sentence copied from the shelter website

If your tenancy started before 1 June 2020, your landlord must have made sure that the first check was done by 1 April 2021.