Guide for landlords: New electrical safety standards in the PRS

New electrical safety rules have been introduced to ensure that private tenants are protected. 

New regulations, which were introduced yesterday, are designed to strengthen electrical safety practices and bring in line with those already well-established within gas safety regulations in private residential tenancies.

The regulation will initially affect private residential tenancies; affecting new tenancies from 1 July 2020 and those tenancies already in existence from 1 April 2021.

The proposal aims to ensure all electrical wiring and fixed electrical installations are signed off and reported by a qualified electrician.

If the report highlights any issues, the landlord will be required to remedy the issue within 28 days, or potentially face a fine of up to £30,000.

Fresh guidance setting out how the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 affect landlords, tenants and local authorities has been issued by the government. 

To also help support the buy-to-let industry, the National Association of Professional Inspectors and Testers (NAPIT) has provided detailed guidance on the new Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 to both landlords and its members.

NAPIT is also supporting landlord associations, letting agents and local authorities in their understanding of the new regulations during this period of adjustment through webinars, articles, and by responding directly to queries.

NAPIT’s chief operating officer, David Cowburn, commented: “I’m delighted that we have taken this crucial step to update our online search facility to include the details of the competent operatives within each of our registered electrical businesses. This change has been made to provide greater confidence to consumers and better align with the Minimum Competency Requirements which require us to ‘ensure that there is a record of each competent individual capable of completing self-certification and the limits of their competence.

“Now more than ever consumers and landlords alike can be assured that the NAPIT tradesperson they are hiring to carry out the works is up to standard.”

• Landlord guidance available here:

• The Electrical Safety Checks in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 available to view here: 

We're excited to announce that we're working on building a shiny new website for readers of Landlord Today! As part of this process, commenting on articles will be temporarily disabled. We look forward to sharing our new and improved Landlord Today website with you shortly!