Renters and landlords are being urged to look out for signs their homes may be suffering from dangerous electrical faults.
The warning comes as a recent investigation by the consumer safety charity, Electrical Safety First, discovered thousands of dangerous electrical faults in privately rented homes across England.
The UK’s private renting sector has doubled in size in the last 20 years, with as many as 11 million people now renting a property through a private landlord.
However, a parliament committee report says, the sector is failing far too often to provide safe and secure homes for renters, with 13% (589,000) of privately rented properties currently posing a serious threat to the health and safety of renters.
This is said to cost the NHS an estimated £340 million each year.
To address this issue, Electrical Safety First sent freedom of information (FOI) requests to local authorities in England, which reveal the extent of dangerous electrical faults that were found since new laws came into force mandating electrical safety checks in privately rented homes.
Martyn Allen, Technical Director for Electrical Safety First said: “Electrical Safety First estimates that the number of electrical faults across rental properties in the whole of England to be as high as 24,000 based on the granular data provided by 98 local authorities, which only represents 27% of local authorities in England and revealed almost 7,000 serious faults.”
As a result, the charity is warning tenants and landlords to keep a look out for signs that the property could be unsafe and may need further checking by a qualified person such as a registered electrician.
Here are the five warning signs that signal your home may be electrically unsafe:
1. What’s that fishy smell?
Are you searching far and wide to get to the bottom of a constant ‘fishy’ odour filtering throughout your home but unable to figure out what’s causing it?
Well, the smell could be a result of overheating of the hard plastic, from which switches and socket outlets are made.
This generally occurs due to overloaded circuits or loose connections leading to the breakdown of insulation. This could eventually result in a fire if ignored and left unremedied.
2. The power keeps tripping in your home
If you find yourself constantly sitting in the dark as the power in your home trips this could be a sign of deteriorated wiring in the property, overloaded circuits, or a wider fault in the home.
3. Cracked or broken switches and socket outlets
Electrical components like circuit breakers, outlets, and wiring are designed to resist overheating.
However, if there are cracks or damage to your light switches and socket outlets, it can cause a serious problem.
Cracked or broken sockets expose you to live metal parts, risking a serious electric shock if you touch them.
4. Yellowing of sockets
Much like how you’d want to keep your teeth white, your sockets should stay that way too. If your plug socket shows signs of yellowing in colour this is a good indication of overheating or poor connections.
5. Light bulbs that blow
If your light bulbs repeatedly flicker or blow, this could be a sign of a loose connection. Loose connections can create excessive levels of heat and pose a risk of fire.
All of the above present a risk to renters and to the property and should be checked out and remedied immediately by a registered electrician.
Renters' rights – what can I do if I feel my home is unsafe?
In England, it is a legal requirement for landlords to provide proof that the electrical installations in their rental property are safe.
Landlords must get the installations checked by a qualified person and, if they identify any hazards or faults, have them remedied within 28 days.
If you feel as though your home is unsafe or that your landlord has not had the property checked, you can request a copy of the electrical installation condition report (EICR).
Your landlord is obligated to provide this to you.
If they refuse or fail to supply you with the EICR, you should contact your local authority or council, who have the power to force the landlord to ensure the property is safe.
The local authority can also fine the landlord up to £30,000.
