Does an annexe let with a Hungerford cottage need its own EICR?

If it is part of the same let and supplied from the same installation, it should be covered by the same inspection. If it is let separately, it needs its own report.

Hungerford, Berkshire

Landlord EICRs in Hungerford: the five-year rule, locally

Hungerford is a small market town at the western edge of Berkshire, and many of its rented homes are period properties or cottages in the surrounding villages.

What is different in Hungerford

West Berkshire Council is the local housing authority for Hungerford and the surrounding villages, and enforces the private rented sector electrical safety regulations here.

The town's high street and side streets include many older buildings, some listed, and flats above shops. Village cottages around the town may have had their electrics extended over many years, sometimes with outbuildings, workshops or annexes running off the house supply. All of the fixed installation you let with the property should be part of the inspection.

Properties away from the town may have electric storage heaters, oil heating with electric controls, or older earthing arrangements. Tell the inspector what heating the property has when you book, so they allow enough time to test it properly.

Local housing authority: West Berkshire Council (opens in a new tab)

The rule, in brief

If you let a home in England on a tenancy covered by the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020, the fixed wiring must be inspected and tested by a qualified and competent person at least every five years. The result is an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR). Existing tenants get a copy within 28 days of the inspection, new tenants before they move in, and the council within 7 days if it asks for one. Owner-occupiers have no legal duty, but Electrical Safety First recommends an inspection at least every ten years, and whenever you buy a home.

Source: Electrical Safety First (opens in a new tab) / GOV.UK (opens in a new tab)

When do you need an EICR? — the full answer

Related safety advice

Signs your consumer unit needs replacing

A consumer unit, or fuse box, is worth having checked by a registered electrician if it still has rewirable fuses, has no RCD protection, shows scorch marks, smells of burning, crackles, feels hot, or trips repeatedly. Age on its own is not proof it is unsafe: an EICR is how you find out whether it needs replacing. Replacing one is notifiable work under Part P of the Building Regulations in England, so it is a job for a registered electrician rather than a DIY one.

Source: Electrical Safety First (opens in a new tab)

What Part P means for your electrical job

Part P of the Building Regulations covers electrical safety in homes in England. All electrical work has to meet it, but only some jobs are notifiable: installing a new circuit, replacing a consumer unit, and adding to or altering circuits in a special location such as a room with a bath or shower. Notifiable work is either done by an electrician registered with a competent person scheme, who certifies it and notifies building control, or notified to the council's building control before it starts.