The Act was introduced to continue to improve the private rented sector by creating a safer and more secure environment for tenants and to avoid unnecessary fatalities and injuries occurring due to faults with any rental property’s hard-wired electrical installation. Section 10 of the Act enables the Department to make Regulations to specify the minimum standards for landlords to have the electrical installations in their properties checked and inspected by a qualified electrician at least every 5 years.
A 12-week stakeholder online consultation ran from 13 September 2023 to 6 December 2023, on the content of the new Regulations and the associated guidance notes. It was a targeted consultation focused on engaging and obtaining the views of tenants, landlords, electricians, Council enforcement officers, and professional bodies/representatives to ensure the Regulations were fit for purpose, deliverable, and easy to understand. This online consultation was supplemented by targeted stakeholder forums. More detail about the consultation and subsequent analysis approach is provided within the published Summary Report.
Summary Report: Private Tenancies Act (Northern Ireland) 2022, Section 10: The Electrical Safety Standards for Private Tenancies Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2024