Have you made the decision to sell your property? Are you wondering whether there are any legalities that you need to keep in mind in terms of your electrical installations?
You’re not alone. Many homeowners come to sell their properties but aren’t sure what their legal responsibilities are.
You may be familiar with the EICR and may also have heard that UK landlords are required to have an up-to-date EICR by law. But does this also apply to homeowners?
In short, you’re not legally required to have an EICR when selling a domestic property but it certainly does help.
What Is An EICR?
EICR is short for Electrical Installation Condition Report and this is a series of tests that assess the condition and quality of your home’s electrical installations.
Your electrician will look at components like wiring, sockets, switches and your consumer unit to determine whether they are in good working order or if repairs are needed.
During an EICR any issues that are highlighted are given a code with code one being the most urgent and recommends that remedial work be carried out as soon as possible to avoid safety issues and things like electrical fires or electrocution.
After your electrician has carried out the report and highlighted any problems, he or she will provide you with a full report which you can either keep for yourself or show to a potential buyer if you are selling your property.
Do You Have To Have An EICR By Law To Sell A House?
In the UK, it is only landlords that are required by law to have an EICR. Domestic homeowners are not legally obliged to have this assessment carried out but it is highly recommended that you do, especially when selling your property. But I’ll go into more detail on the importance of this in the following section.
You might wonder where you stand if your buyer is planning to rent out the property upon purchase. But there’s nothing for you to worry about here.
If the home does not currently have an up-to-date EICR and you and the buyer are happy to make the exchange without one, there’ll be no legal implication for you. It is then the responsibility of the new owner to have an EICR done before renting out the property to their tenants.
Why Not Having An EICR Can Deter Potential Buyers
Imagine you were looking to purchase a property. Would you invest your hard-earned money if you couldn’t be 100% sure that there would be no problems?
I think I can safely say that all of you would have answered no to that question.
With this line of thinking, it would therefore be incredibly hypocritical of any homeowner to expect a potential buyer to purchase their property without being assured of its electrical safety.
When you have an up-to-date EICR, this gives your buyer the peace of mind that all of the electrical installations have been newly checked and that any remedial work has been carried out.
That said, it’s worth noting that you aren’t required to have any remedial work done but you should tell the new owner if there have been any code ones or twos that need to be addressed. It is then up to them if they’re willing to take on the property and have the work completed.
Can Buyers Request An EICR?
When it comes to buying a property, buyers may have many requests and, for the most part, these aren’t unreasonable since they are going to be spending a substantial amount of money on the property.
Where there isn’t a valid EICR in place, it is not uncommon for buyers or their legal representatives to request one be carried out before a final offer is made.
You may worry that this is just another expense but it could be the difference between making a sale and being lumbered with a property that you just want to get rid of.
Sure, you’re well within your rights to refuse an EICR but that’s not a very good look and isn’t going to shift your property in a hurry. It’s always best to just bite the bullet and have the assessment done. It takes just a few hours and gives everybody peace of mind.
What’s more, it’s worth considering that an EICR doesn’t cost a lot of money in the scheme of things.
Is It Expensive To Have An EICR?
The great thing about an EICR is that it typically costs somewhere in the region of £100 to £300 depending on the size of the property.
When you consider all of the other costs associated with selling a house, this really is a minor investment but one that could tip the buyer’s decision as to whether to make an offer or not.
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