Landlord EICR Testing in Kent

The 2020 regulations in plain English

Since 1 June 2020, the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 require every privately rented home in England to have a satisfactory EICR. The rules apply to assured shorthold tenancies, licences to occupy, and most lodging arrangements where the property is the tenant’s main home.

The headline requirements:

• A satisfactory EICR is required at the start of any new tenancy and at least every five years thereafter
• A copy of the report goes to existing tenants within 28 days of inspection, and to new tenants before they move in
• The local authority can request a copy and must receive it within 7 days of request
• Where the report is unsatisfactory, remedial work must be completed within 28 days (or sooner if the report specifies)
• A landlord can be served a remedial notice and fined up to £30,000 per breach

The regulations apply across all of Kent. Different councils take a different stance on enforcement — some are reactive (only acting on complaints), others are proactive, particularly in selective-licensing zones. Either way, having a current EICR on file is the cheap insurance against a complaint becoming a fine.

What the report has to contain

A compliant landlord EICR is more than just a single page with a tick-box. The full deliverable is:

• EICR form with the inspector’s qualifications, the date, the property address, the observation codes against any findings, and the overall outcome (satisfactory or unsatisfactory)
• Schedule of inspection documenting what was inspected and what wasn’t (and why)
• Schedule of test results — circuit-by-circuit numbers for continuity, insulation resistance, polarity, earth fault loop, and RCD performance
• Cover letter or summary stating the next inspection date

CJA Electrical issues all of this as a single PDF, in the standard industry format that letting agents, councils, mortgage lenders, and the Private Rented Sector Database all accept.

How testing works for letting agents

Most landlord EICRs we do come through letting agents. The workflow is built around minimising tenant disruption and getting the report turned around quickly:

1. Booking via the agent. The agent sends through the property address, tenant contact details (or confirms they’ll arrange access), and any known issues (faulty sockets, recent works). We come back with a quote, usually same-day.
2. Tenant access. Either the agent provides keys, or we arrange directly with the tenant — whichever you prefer. Most testing visits take a single morning or afternoon, and we work around tenant schedules wherever possible.
3. On-site testing. Visual inspection plus dead and live testing of every circuit. Power is briefly off during testing on each circuit; a tenant working from home can usually carry on with minimal disruption.
4. Report within 48 hours. PDF emailed direct to the agent and (if requested) the tenant, in the format that satisfies council requests.
5. Remedial work, if needed. Quoted separately. The same electrician issuing the original report can do the remedials and re-issue the report once complete.

For agents managing portfolios, we batch bookings on the same day or week to keep travel costs down — useful when several properties are due at the same time.

What “unsatisfactory” actually means

An unsatisfactory EICR isn’t a disaster — it just means the report has at least one C1, C2, or FI observation. The most common reasons a rented property fails are predictable:

• Old consumer units without RCD protection on socket and lighting circuits
• Bonding that doesn’t meet current standards (gas, water, sometimes oil)
• Bathroom installations with sockets in the wrong zone or missing supplementary bonding
• Damaged accessories that are arcing or loose
• Lighting circuits without an earth in older Kent housing stock

The regulations require remedial work within 28 days. In practice, most landlord remedials we quote are a consumer unit replacement, partial rewire of a problem circuit, or specific accessory swaps. We document the remedial work, re-test the affected circuits, and re-issue the report as satisfactory.

HMOs and selective licensing

Houses in Multiple Occupation have their own electrical safety requirements layered on top of the 2020 regs:

• Mandatory licensing applies to HMOs of 5 or more occupiers from two or more households. EICR testing is a standard licence condition.
• Additional licensing is locally-imposed by the council and can extend HMO requirements down to smaller HMOs (3+ occupiers from 2+ households). Some Kent councils use this — Medway and Maidstone have used additional licensing in defined areas.
• Selective licensing can apply to all rented property in a defined zone, regardless of HMO status. Where it applies, an EICR is normally a licence condition.
• HMO emergency lighting in shared common parts is also typically required (separate to the EICR but often inspected at the same visit). See emergency lighting for detail.

If you’re not sure what licensing regime applies to a property, the council’s housing team is the authoritative source. CJA Electrical can do the EICR work either way.

Common landlord questions we get

When does the 5-year clock start? From the date of the most recent satisfactory EICR. If the property has never had one, you’re past due — the clock started 1 June 2020.

The previous owner’s EICR is two years old. Do I need a new one? Probably not, if it’s a satisfactory report dated within the last five years and you have the PDF. The certificate transfers with the property. Get a copy from the previous owner or their solicitor.

Tenant won’t allow access. Now what? The regulations give landlords the right to inspect, and the council can be involved if a tenant blocks safety inspections. In practice, we work with agents to give as much notice as the tenancy requires (usually 24 hours) and find a slot that suits the tenant. Outright refusal is rare.

My property is an HMO. Do I need a separate EICR per flat? If the building is a single legal property with shared common areas, one EICR covers the lot. If the flats are individually let on separate tenancies (e.g. converted house), each flat is a separate EICR. The line between these isn’t always obvious — happy to talk through specifics.

Can I do remedial work myself if I’m a competent person? The regulations require remedial work to be done by a “qualified and competent person” and a written confirmation issued. If you have the qualifications, technically yes. Most landlords have us do it for the speed and the simpler audit trail.

Does the report need to be in a specific format? The 2020 regs don’t mandate a single format, but the standard EICR form is universally accepted. Reports issued in non-standard formats can lead to council pushback.

Coverage across Kent

We do landlord EICRs across all of our service area — full list on the where we work section. Heaviest demand is in Medway (Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham, Strood, Rainham), Maidstone, and the towns with active landlord licensing schemes. Same-week appointments are typical; for portfolios with multiple properties due in the same period, we batch the bookings and price accordingly.