Homes in Richmond upon Thames and what they mean for an EICR
Council tax records date almost four in ten of the borough's homes to before 1919, and about a quarter to the interwar years. Terraced and semi-detached houses each account for roughly a quarter of households, and around six in ten households own their home.
If you own, an EICR is worth having before you buy an older house, before you renovate, or when nobody can say when the wiring was last checked. In Victorian and Edwardian houses, from Twickenham and Teddington to Barnes and East Sheen, the wiring has usually been renewed, but not always everywhere. Traces of older wiring can linger in lofts, cellars and under floors, and extensions often run from a mix of old and new circuits.
The electrician tests each circuit, checks the main earthing and the bonding to gas and water pipes, and notes where RCD protection — the safety switch that cuts the power in an earth fault — is missing. Garden rooms and outbuildings get the same scrutiny, including the cable that feeds them.
About one household in eleven lives in a flat within a converted or shared house. These usually have their own consumer unit (fuse board), with the shared hallway on a separate supply that the building's owner looks after.
Letting a property in Richmond upon Thames
Licensing is light here. The council only runs mandatory HMO licensing, for homes shared by five or more people from two or more households, and there is no additional or selective licensing. Its HMO guidance still tells landlords to arrange an electrical safety check at least every five years and obtain an updated EICR.
For every private let, licensed or not, the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 apply. You need an inspection and test at least every five years by a qualified, competent person, and each tenant needs a copy of the report. If the report codes anything C1 (danger present) or C2 (potentially dangerous), or asks for further investigation, that work must be done within 28 days, or sooner if the report says so. Breaching these duties can mean a penalty of up to £40,000.
