Electrics and alarms in rented homes: a 28-day report and a £40,000 penalty

Renting in England rests on three safety checks: gas, electrics and alarms. Each has a fixed interval, a fixed document and a fixed penalty — and most of the paperwork is owed to the tenant by default, without asking for it. This guide follows the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government guidance published on 1 November 2025 and the government booklet on alarms. It applies to England.

How often must a landlord check the electrics?

At least every five years, and the check must be done by a properly qualified person.

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What is inspected is the fixed electrical installation of the property — wiring, consumer unit, sockets, light fittings. Social landlords must also have any electrical equipment they supply tested.

The result is written up as an electrical installation condition report. That report is the document you should receive.

When must the report reach you?

The deadlines depend on who you are, and none of them is negotiable.

If you already live there, the report is due within 28 days of the inspection and test. If you are a new tenant, you must have it before you move in. If you are a prospective tenant who has asked for it, within 28 days of the request. If the council asks for it, within 7 days.

None of these deadlines depends on you chasing the landlord for the document.

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What if the report finds something wrong?

Remedial work, or any further investigative work the report calls for, must be carried out within 28 days — or sooner, if the report itself specifies a shorter period.

Once the work is finished, the landlord has a further 28 days to supply written confirmation to the tenant and to the council.

How many smoke alarms, and where?

At least one on every storey that contains a room used wholly or partly as living accommodation.

Two details matter: halls and landings count as rooms for this rule, and a mezzanine is not a storey. The guidance recommends fixing the alarm to the ceiling in a circulation space — a hall or a landing — and following the manufacturer's instructions.

Where is a carbon monoxide alarm required?

In every room used as living accommodation that contains a fixed combustion appliance.

That means a gas or oil boiler or a log-burning stove. Gas cookers are specifically excluded, and a purely decorative, non-functioning fireplace does not count either. The alarm should sit at head height, roughly one to three metres from the appliance.

This version of the rules took effect on 1 October 2022. Before that, a carbon monoxide alarm was required only where the fuel was solid, such as coal or wood.

Who tests the alarms, and what if one fails?

On the day a new tenancy begins, the landlord or someone acting for them must check that every alarm is in working order, and keep a record of that check.

After that, tenants are encouraged to test the alarms themselves. If one does not sound, try the battery first. If it still fails, or you cannot change the battery, tell the landlord: from that point they must repair or replace it.

What does it cost the landlord?

Breaching the electrical safety rules carries a financial penalty of up to £40,000. Failing to comply with a remedial notice about alarms carries a fine of up to £5,000, and that fine applies per breach, not per landlord or per property.

Enforcement sits with the local housing authority — the council. A landlord can appeal a penalty to the First-tier Tribunal.

Who is outside the rules?

The electrical regulations do not cover: accommodation shared with the landlord or their family; long leases, including shared ownership, and tenancies granting seven years' occupation or more; student halls; hostels and refuges; care homes, hospitals and hospices; other healthcare-related accommodation; and mobile homes, caravans and boats.

The alarm rules have a similar list, plus hotels and low-cost ownership homes. Licensed HMOs are outside Parts 1 to 5 of those regulations but face comparable requirements through licensing under the Housing Act 2004.

And gas?

Gas equipment supplied by the landlord must be installed and maintained by a Gas Safe registered engineer, and every appliance and flue must be checked annually.

You must be given the check record before you move in, or within 28 days of the check.

What changes for social housing?

The electrical rules have been extended to the social rented sector. They came into force on 1 November 2025 and apply to social tenancies granted after 1 December 2025.

For social tenancies granted before that date the rules took effect on 1 May 2026, and the inspections, tests and equipment checks must be completed before 1 November 2026.

ONLYWAY NEWS is tracking how those deadlines are met.