The Electrical Safety Roundtable (ESR) is imploring landlords to stay on the right side of the law, and keep their tenants out of danger, by turning to the latest Home Safety Guidance.
The call comes after a landlord in Luton was given a record fine of £70,000 plus costs for multiple breaches of legislation. Exposed wires were found in a property belonging to Alyas Hussain, while the house’s electricity meter had been tampered with and fire detection systems were not in place.
Chris Bielby, Chair of the Electrical Safety Roundtable, said “It is shocking to see the total disregard for safety that this landlord has shown towards his tenants. We are pleased that the magistrates have sent a clear message to landlords that they simply cannot leave their properties in such an unsafe state. It is cases like this that spurred the ESR into creating Home Safety Guidance documents, so that ignorance cannot be used as an excuse for leaving homes in a substandard condition.”
A number of documents are available for download on the ESR and Home Safety Guidance websites to make landlords aware of their responsibilities, and to help them to prove that their properties are being adequately maintained. These include a Home Safety Certificate, designed to provide an overview of the safety of a property, and a list of the current legal responsibilities in the Private Rented Sector in England, Scotland and Wales. The site also provides a Routine Visual and Operational Electrical Checklist. This does not replace an Electrical Installation Condition Report, which industry suggest is carried out at least every 5 years by someone competent in undertaking such work, but it does allow an annual visual check of the electrical installation to be recorded.
You can also find guidance on the website on how to complete such documents, to ensure that even landlords without electrical training can spot potentially hazardous faults or damage.
Find the latest documentation from the Electrical Safety Roundtable at www.homesafetyguidance.co.uk/download, and search for registered competent electrical installers and inspectors in industry at www.homesafetyguidance.co.uk/find-a-tradesperson.
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