Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020

Lord Tope Excerpts

Monday 16th March 2020 Grand Committee

[The Earl of Courtown (Con)]

My Lords, this Government are committed to ensuring that all tenants live in safe, secure and high-quality properties. These important regulations help deliver that commitment for private tenants. Private landlords make an extremely valuable contribution to the housing market. The majority of landlords in England provide well-maintained and safe accommodation for their tenants, allowing them to put down roots, work and thrive in their communities. However, some landlords wilfully flout their responsibilities and put their tenants at a significant risk of harm as a result. This is not acceptable. These regulations will target those irresponsible and unscrupulous landlords and will help to level the playing field for the majority of good landlords who already meet this requirement. As a result, the regulations will help to drive up safety and standards across the private rented sector and reduce deaths and injuries caused by electrical faults.

The numbers are telling. In 2016-17, 16 people died and 871 were injured in England as a result of electrical fires in the home. In a five-year period, the London Fire Brigade dealt with 748 fires caused by electrics. In the same period, only 97 fires it dealt with in London were caused by gas. Only 60% of homes in the private rented sector have all the recommended electrical safety features installed, compared with 75% of homes in the social rented sector. This amounts to a compelling case for change.

These regulations will require all landlords to have the electrical installations in their properties inspected and tested by a qualified and competent person at least every five years. Good landlords already keep the electrics in their properties safe, but there are those who avoid doing this and undercut the good ones. They will now have to comply and better protect the safety of their tenants. If they do not like it, they can leave the business. The regulations will also require landlords to provide a copy of the electrical safety report to their tenants, and to their local authority if requested, to give tenants the information they need for their peace of mind and to support local authority enforcement.

But what about those landlords who decide to continue to flout the law and put their tenants at risk of electrocution and perhaps even fire? These regulations will provide local authorities with strong enforcement powers to tackle this minority of landlords. Local authorities will be able legally to require landlords to carry out vital remedial works. If landlords still do not comply, the council will be able to arrange the works and recover the cost from the landlord.

Local authorities will also be able to request proof from landlords that the electrical installations in their property are in fact safe. If a landlord has to carry out essential remedial work, they must let their local authority know. There will be a serious penalty for landlords who do not comply with the requirements—requirements that they should already be meeting. Local authorities will have the power to issue financial penalties of up to £30,000; it will be for them to decide the level of penalty. They can see the severity of the issue and will know best how to tackle irresponsible landlords in their areas.

Our local authorities are working hard to enforce standards in privately rented properties, so we are mindful of the risks of putting new burdens on them. That is why we have legislated that they may retain the proceeds of these financial penalties for enforcement purposes, allowing councils to keep up the good work and drive up standards further. This will contribute to the long-term financial stability of housing enforcement teams. These regulations form part of the Government’s comprehensive programme of work to improve safety in all buildings and conditions in the private rented sector in particular, where overall standards are significantly worse than in other tenures.

We took decisive action to address the risks identified following the Grenfell Tower tragedy and accepted in principle all recommendations in the Grenfell Tower inquiry phase one report. My right honourable friend the Home Secretary will introduce a fire safety Bill which will clarify that, under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, building owners and managers of multioccupied residential buildings must ensure they assess fire risks linked to external walls, including cladding, and the entrance doors to individual flats. We also accepted the recommendations from Dame Judith Hackitt’s independent review of building safety and will publish a building safety Bill as soon as possible.

This is all in addition to the renters’ reform Bill, which will deliver a better deal for renters. I look forward to sharing the details of this Bill with Members of the House over the coming months. However, I can tell noble Lords now that it will improve security and affordability for tenants and professionalise the sector. It will include measures to drive criminal landlords out of the sector while strengthening the rights of landlords who have a valid reason for regaining possession of their property.

I appreciate the opportunity to set out all this exciting new work and thank noble Lords for their interest in this important matter. These regulations will help drive up standards and reduce injuries and deaths due to electric shocks and fires caused by electrical faults in residential premises within the private rented sector. As I said at the start, the majority of landlords are proactive in ensuring the safety of their tenants, so these requirements will not put an additional burden on those landlords who make a welcome contribution to the housing market.

It is reasonable to expect all landlords to make sure their tenants are safe from the risk of electrocution or fire. Ultimately, these regulations will help ensure that tenants are kept safe. I beg to move.

[Lord Tope (LD)]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for his thorough introduction to these long-overdue regulations, which I welcome. Before I go any further, I declare an interest as a patron of the charity Electrical Safety First. It has been campaigning for many years—longer than I have been involved with it—for these regulations, which they too very much welcome.