Printed inspection report held beside a smoke alarm in a rented living room

Landlord electrical safety rules for Exeter lettings

8 min read
Rules and permits
Landlords letting homes in Exeter must meet the 2020 Regulations for private rented homes in England. This guide explains the inspection interval, the reports owed to tenants and council, remedial deadlines, enforcement and the alarm duties that run alongside them.

Landlords letting property in Exeter must meet electrical safety standards set by the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020. The rules apply to most privately rented homes in England and set out how often the electrical installation must be inspected, what must be given to tenants and the council, how quickly remedial work must be carried out and what happens when a landlord does not comply. This guide explains each duty in plain language and points to the parts of the regulations that matter most in practice.

Inspections at least every five years

The central duty is an inspection and test of the electrical installation by a qualified person. Under regulation 3 of the 2020 Regulations, the installation must be inspected and tested before a specified tenancy begins, and then at regular intervals. The regulations define regular intervals as intervals of no more than five years, unless the most recent report requires an earlier inspection. The full text is on legislation.gov.uk, and it is worth reading if you manage more than one property.

The "qualified person" is the person carrying out the inspection, and the regulations expect the inspection to be carried out by someone competent to do so. A landlord should be able to show the report and the inspector's name and qualifications. The guide on verifying scheme membership and insurance in Exeter explains the checks to make before booking an inspector.

The inspection schedule is simple to track. Record the date of the last report and the date the next one is due, and do not wait until the last month to book. A report that expires in the middle of a tenancy creates a compliance gap, and the landlord is then exposed to enforcement action. The EICR certificates service covers the inspection and report that the regulations require.

Providing reports to tenants and council

The regulations also fix who receives the report and when, and the clocks start at different points. Under regulation 3(3), people already living in the property are owed their copy within 28 days of the inspection and test. Anyone about to move in must have the latest report before taking up occupation, while someone only considering the let can ask for it in writing and is then owed it within 28 days. Exeter City Council, as the local housing authority, is entitled to a copy within seven days of asking in writing, and a copy has to be retained until the next inspection is due or, if later, has taken place. Keep an accessible record of when each report was given, because the duty is about proving the tenant has received it, not simply about holding the document.

A report provided to a tenant should be complete. A summary sheet is not enough, because the tenant and the council are entitled to see the codes, the observations and the outcome. Where the report requires further investigative or remedial work, the paperwork does not stop with the tenant. Regulation 3(5) requires the landlord to obtain written confirmation from a qualified person that the work has been carried out, and to send that confirmation, with a copy of the report that required the work, to each existing tenant and to the local housing authority within 28 days of completion. That duty applies to every item the report requires to be put right, not only to the most serious observations, and the council copy is owed whether or not the council has asked for it.

The council can request the documents at any time. Store the original reports, the inspector's details and the dates in one place, so that a request can be answered quickly. The same record helps the next inspector understand the history of the installation.

Remedial work deadlines

Where the report requires further investigative or remedial work, a qualified person must carry it out within 28 days of the inspection, or within any shorter period the report specifies, as regulation 3 sets out. The 2020 Regulations then set out how the council enforces compliance. If a council serves a remedial notice, the landlord must take the remedial action specified in the notice within 28 days beginning with the day on which the notice is served, unless representations are made and the notice is withdrawn or varied. The notice must explain that the landlord may make written representations against it within 21 days. The relevant provisions, including the 28-day and 21-day periods and the suspension of the notice while representations are considered, are in regulation 4 of the Regulations.

The regulations also deal with urgent work. Where the most recent report requires urgent remedial action, the landlord must act on it promptly, and the regulations treat that as a serious matter. A landlord who receives a report with a C1 or C2 observation should not let the tenancy continue without addressing it. The guide on what a condition report tells you explains the codes and what each one means for the outcome.

Reading the codes correctly matters for the timetable. The IET's Wiring Matters article on further investigation is a clear account of how the current classifications treat each observation, and a landlord can use it to check what a report means before booking the work.

Penalties and enforcement

The council has enforcement powers under the Regulations. If it is satisfied that a landlord is in breach, it can serve a remedial notice. If the landlord does not take the action required, the council may arrange for an authorised person to carry out the remedial action, with the consent of the tenant where needed. The council may also impose a financial penalty where it is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that a landlord has breached a duty, and more than one penalty where a failure continues. Under regulation 11, each penalty must not exceed £40,000, a ceiling that replaced the original £30,000 when the regulations were amended in 2025, with effect for private landlords from 1 November 2025. A landlord can appeal to the First-tier Tribunal against a penalty, and the procedure, including the time limits for representations and appeals, is worth checking directly before any dispute arises.

Enforcement is not a formality. A landlord who is served with a remedial notice faces a deadline, a financial penalty and possible work carried out by the council. The practical protection is to keep the inspection programme on schedule and to act on each report promptly, so that a notice never arrives.

Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms

Electrical safety is not the only duty for landlords. The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015, as amended from 1 October 2022, require a smoke alarm on each storey of the premises where there is a room used wholly or partly as living accommodation, and a carbon monoxide alarm in any such room that contains a fixed combustion appliance other than a gas cooker, which covers gas boilers and fires as well as wood and coal stoves. Under regulation 4, the landlord must also check that each alarm is working on the day a new tenancy begins, and must repair or replace an alarm that is found to be faulty after a tenant reports it. Licensable HMOs and houses licensed by the council are dealt with through equivalent licence conditions instead, and a council can impose a penalty charge on a landlord who fails to comply with a remedial notice under these rules.

The alarms are not a substitute for the electrical inspection, but they are part of the same safety picture. A tenant who has a working alarm and a properly tested installation has the strongest protection the installation can give. Record the date each alarm was checked, and replace any alarm that is no longer working.

The practical sequence for an Exeter let

For a landlord with a property in Exeter, the sequence is straightforward. Book an inspection before the tenancy starts and before the previous report expires. Give the tenant a copy of the report before they move in. Carry out any remedial work promptly, record the action and keep the evidence. Diary the next inspection date and confirm the alarms are in place. Keep the records together so that a request from the council or a tenant can be answered at once.

Landlords with several properties should consider a single inspection programme across the portfolio, so that each property is covered and the dates are visible. The landlord page explains the wider considerations for letting properties in the city. Where the report reveals more extensive work, a full rewiring or a consumer unit upgrade may be the most efficient route.

Costs for the inspection and any repairs are explained in the guide on what affects EICR cost. For a quote covering the inspection for a rented property, use the get a quote page and tell providers the number of tenancies and the access arrangements, so that each quote is comparable.

Summary of the duties

A landlord in Exeter must have the installation inspected by a qualified person before each new specified tenancy and at intervals of no more than five years, provide the report to tenants and, on written request, to the council, carry out remedial work within the required time, send written confirmation of that work to both the tenants and the council within 28 days of completion, and keep smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in place. A failure to meet these duties can lead to a remedial notice, council-arranged work and a financial penalty. Keeping the schedule, the records and the work on track is the most reliable way to comply.