Homes in Ealing and what they mean for an EICR
Ealing takes in Acton, Hanwell, Southall, Greenford, Northolt, Perivale and Ealing itself, and the housing changes from place to place. Council tax records date about 28% of the borough's homes to before 1919, and another 30% to the years between the wars.
Victorian and Edwardian terraces have usually been rewired at least once, but kitchens, bathrooms and loft rooms were often added later on circuits of their own. The electrician checks how each addition was connected, whether the earthing and bonding are sound, and whether circuits have RCD protection — the safety switch that cuts the power when current leaks to earth.
Interwar semis often have extensions, garage conversions or garden rooms. A cable run out to an outbuilding is a common place to find damage or a missing RCD.
About one household in eight lives in a flat within a converted or shared house. Each flat usually has its own consumer unit (fuse board), while the hallway lights and door entry run from a separate landlord supply. Your flat's EICR covers your own installation; the shared parts are for the building's owner to keep safe.
Nearly a fifth of Ealing's homes date from 2000 or later. A newly built or fully rewired home should come with an Electrical Installation Certificate, which a landlord can use in place of an EICR for five years from its date.
Letting a property in Ealing
Ealing Council licenses HMOs — homes shared by three or more people from more than one household — across the whole borough, and other private lets in 15 wards. Those wards follow the old, pre-May 2022 boundaries, so check your address with the council's postcode checker.
Every licence application must include an electrical report under five years old that says the installation is "Satisfactory", with all pages attached. Book the EICR, and any repairs it calls for, before you apply.
Licence or not, the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 apply to your let. You must have the installation inspected and tested by a qualified, competent person at least every five years and give your tenants a copy of the report. Anything coded C1 (danger present) or C2 (potentially dangerous), and any further investigation the report asks for, must be dealt with within 28 days, or sooner if the report says so. The council can fine a landlord up to £40,000 for a breach.
Booking in Ealing
Our registered office is in Hanwell, at Suite 112, First Floor Boundary House, Boston Road, London, W7 2QE. If your report is for a licence application, upload the whole PDF: the council wants every page, not just the summary.
