Who should do new electric works in a rented property

elsien

Then you wouldn’t agree to do it for future tenants. 

silvercar

Why do they need extra sockets?

Chief_of_Staffy

It's the owner's property and they're responsible for the safety of the tenants. The owner commissions the work. If there's a fire due to poor electrical work and people are injured or killed, guess who's held responsible and ends up in prison. Hint: It's not the tenants.

Whether or not the owner or the tenant pays depends on whether the work is necessary. If it's a modern set up then it's not necessary. If it's an older set up that has only two or three sockets in a room then it's likely more work than installing a few new ones, and could require a new consumer unit or even a rewire depending on the condition.

WIAWSNB

Hi Tallac.
You are absolutely right to insist this is done by an approved contractor who will issue the required certs.
You can insist it's one of your (the LL's) choosing, since the owner - who you represent - has the final say on the decision in any case - they can just say 'non'.
No, the tenants almost certainly cannot do this without permission - the AST terms will surely make clear what can and cannot be done. They probably can't even redecorate without the LL's permission? If they try, it'll likely be grounds to evict (but I don't know).
So, by all means get a quote from your own sparky, and there's no good reason why it should be noticeably higher than any they get from an equally qualified and cert'd one (unless one is doing them a favour).
If their sparky's quote is lower than yours 'cos, say, they are known to the tenants, then I'd want to check their quals and repute before giving the go-ahead. If you are not 100% happy, then you insist on your own - or nothing.
Who should pay? Obvs, the tenants. Unless you acknowledge that the property is under-provided.
You really don't want them using multi-way extension leads and that sort of stuff. So, personally, I think I'd be ready to offer to contribute if needed; if you are not happy with their choice of sparky and want to use yours, then perhaps offer to cover the difference in cost? And if the flat is clearly under-socketed, then this will be a permanent improvement, so I think I'd even offer to go - say - at least halves?
Don't forget to have some sockets with built in USB ports

MyRealNameToo

tallac said:

JGB1955 said:

It's YOUR property and YOU should be the one paying...

So, by that logic, if the tenants want to have another 10 mains sockets installed in every room, I should have to pay for that too? 

You probably should be declining it. 

We had a rental property where the internet came in via a cupboard which also contained the consumer unit. Back in the day you just connected your router to any telephone socket but we wanted to upgrade the internet and was told the router needed to go into the master socket. With no near by socket it would have been a long extension lead to do so. 

Our landlord was very reasonable, gave permission for us to get a socket put in the cupboard and didnt have any requirements on certificates or such. We paid for it ourselves as we wanted it and it was for our benefit. 

On other matters have had debates with other landlords, our penultimate one was in a new build property and whilst it came with brand new built in white goods it had a space for a freestanding fridge/freezer but one wasnt provided. We did rent it and had to buy our own but when we were moving out made it very clear to prospective future tenants that it was ours and would be taking it with us. Eventually the landlord contacted us and said they'd been wrong not providing one and pretty much bought ours from us at cost despite now being 2 years old. Did have an argument with the checkout inspection though as they said it had a small dent in the door but pointed out that was there when the LL bought it from us. 

RAS

tallac said:

elsien said:

JGB1955 said:

It's YOUR property and YOU should be the one paying...

Only if something actually needs during, surely. If the existing sockets are adequate and safe and the reason for change is simply preference, why should the landlord pay for that?
Although this is something that will also benefit future tenants then maybe that would be a rationale to split the cost. Perhaps you need to look at what they are willing to pay and what your trusted electrician would charge, and then negotiate any difference between the two?

Sounds fair. But just to test the scenario, what if even after a shared cost, they still think it's too expensive as they can get Mr Cowboy Electrician to do the job for much cheaper. They should get my permission to make such alterations but if they go ahead without permission then what's the consequence of that?

No. Tenants need explicit permission to make any alterations to a property.

Failure to get permission means the LL can reclaim the cost of returning the property to the original state, at the tenants' expense via the deposit scheme.

If at any point you decline a tenant's request to make alterations, make explicit in an email that fact and keep a paper copy as well as the message, preferably with the read receipt.

So tenant redecorates in a different colour without permission. Tenant is liable for the cost of returning to original colour, even if the LL then let's the property out without redecorating. 

Wiring is much more serious as you need to get it certified. 

tallac

Thanks for all the advice. I think on this occassion, I could be happy to contribute for the cost as the extra socket seems like a good thing for future tenants but duly noted about pre-approving any contractor they choose to use.

TheJP

I just want to check, is it;

1. They want to upgrade the existing sockets i.e. ones with USB/USBC ports and not add additional sockets?
2. They want additional sockets added to the property?

If it's option 1 they may be hinting they would buy the sockets and change them themselves, easy to do however as it's a rental you may insist a qualified electrician does this. They may not be inclined to share the costs as that would be more than they would have first thought.

If its option 2 then i would query why they need additional sockets, if you are ok with them paying then you need to see the accreditation of the person carrying out the works and also ensure you are protected in that you won't be contributing to the costs, they can't claim the costs back from their deposit should they leave. The EICR cost may then be your responsibility to cover you as a landlord on the additional work.

tallac

They want new sockets installed in a location that does not already have sockets. What they are asking for is reasonable and understand their desire to have sockets in that specific location. I also think this could be useful for future tenants hence being okay to share the cost.

I just wanted to make sure that everything was done in a way that is appropriate. I.e. as a landlord, I have to make sure the work is carried out by a qualified electrician and I have the appropriate certificate to confirm that it has been done in this way. It's entirely possible the tenants (tenants in general, not this specific tenants) will get the job done by whoever is cheaper whether they are qualified or not.

kinger101

silvercar said:

Why do they need extra sockets?

How else are they going to plug in the lamps for their cannabis farm?