Hillingdon's homes and what they mean for an EICR
Very little of Hillingdon is Victorian. Council tax records date only about 4% of its homes to before 1919, against 37% built between the wars and almost a fifth from 1945 to 1964. Nearly half of all households live in a semi-detached or detached house.
In most of the borough, then, an EICR means a suburban house. The consumer unit (fuse board) may have been replaced once or twice, circuits have been added for extensions and loft rooms, and there is often a supply out to a garage, shed or garden office. The electrician checks that outdoor and outbuilding circuits are protected by an RCD — the switch that cuts the power in an earth fault — and that cables run through the garden are the right type and undamaged.
Post-war homes can have quirks of their own: wiring renewed piecemeal, older fittings left in place, and earthing that met the rules of its day but not today's. Each finding is coded by urgency: C1 means danger present, C2 potentially dangerous and C3 improvement recommended, while FI flags where further investigation is advised.
Letting in Hillingdon: the new HMO scheme
Hillingdon Council's additional licensing scheme came into force on 24 August 2026 and runs to 23 August 2031. It covers HMOs (houses in multiple occupation) across the borough with three or more people from two or more households that fall outside mandatory licensing — typically shared houses and flats with three or four tenants. Buildings converted into self-contained flats are left out, and there's no selective licensing.
The additional licence form asks for a valid EICR, noting that for rented homes it lasts only five years, along with a fire alarm certificate, a fire risk assessment and a PAT (portable appliance test) certificate from the last 12 months. Larger HMOs, with five or more people, still need a mandatory licence, and that application asks for a valid electrical installation condition report too.
Licensed or not, every private let must meet the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020: inspection and testing at least every five years by a qualified, competent person, a copy of the report for your tenants, and anything coded C1 or C2, plus any further investigation the report asks for, dealt with within 28 days or sooner if the report says so.
