The social housing sector has been navigating a period of intense legislative activity. Awaab's Law, the new Decent Homes Standard and the Renters' Rights Act have rightly commanded attention.

But another important development, one that may well have slipped under the radar, came into force on 1 May 2026 and social landlords across England need to be alive as to their new obligations.

Change in the law

The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) (Amendment) (Extension to the Social Rented Sector) Regulations 2025 extended the mandatory electrical safety regime to the social rented sector. Since 2020, private sector landlords had been required to inspect and test their electrical installations at least once every five years, but there was no equivalent statutory requirement for social landlords. Many were already operating a five-year cycle as best practice, but there was no legal obligation to do so. That has now changed.

The Regulations were introduced in two stages: they applied first to new social housing tenancies granted after 1 December 2025, and as of 1 May 2026, they now apply to all existing social housing tenancies granted before 1 December 2025. The phased approach was a deliberate policy choice, designed to manage demand on already overstretched social landlords.

What the Regulations require

The headline obligation is clear. All social landlords must ensure that the electrical installations in their properties (the fixed wiring, socket-outlets, light fittings, consumer units and permanently connected equipment such as showers and extractor fans) are inspected and tested at least every five years by a qualified person. An Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) must be obtained following each inspection, and provided to the existing tenant within 28 days and to any new tenant before they move in. Where the report identifies remedial or further investigative work, this must be completed within 28 days, or sooner if the report specifies.

There is also an obligation on social landlords who provide electrical equipment as part of a tenancy, such as white goods, to also have that equipment inspected and tested at least every five years, with a record provided to tenants, and to the relevant local council on request. This reflects the fact that furnished tenancies in the social sector are often offered to particularly vulnerable tenants, such as those in supported housing, with mandatory protection considered proportionate in those circumstances.

Financial penalties for non-compliance are significant: local councils can impose civil penalties of up to £40,000 on landlords who are in breach of specified duties. The Regulator of Social Housing has also committed to introducing a Tenant Satisfaction Measure relating to electrical safety, meaning the reputational and regulatory consequences of getting this wrong extend well beyond the penalty itself.

Actions for existing tenancies

For existing tenancies, transitional provisions give social landlords until 1 November 2026 to complete the initial round of electrical installation inspections and equipment checks. That is six months from now. Given the scale of social housing portfolios, and the availability of qualified electricians, this is not a window that allows for complacency. Landlords should be mapping their stock against current EICR records now, identifying where inspections are overdue or have never been undertaken, and scheduling a phased programme of work prioritised by risk and the age of installations.

Actions for new tenancies 

For new tenancies, the picture is slightly more straightforward. If an inspection was carried out less than five years ago and the EICR does not require further remedial work, a fresh inspection is not needed before re-letting - the landlord simply provides a copy of the most recent report to the incoming tenant.

However, a visual inspection before the new tenancy commences is recommended to confirm that the property remains electrically safe and that no damage or deterioration has occurred since the last report. Making this a standard part of the void process and recording that the inspection has taken place and no issues were noted, alongside other pre-tenancy checks, is a sensible and proportionate step, and one that embeds compliance into existing procedures rather than treating it as a bolt-on exercise.

The access challenge

The most persistent practical difficulty for social landlords in this area is tenant access. The Regulations acknowledge this reality and confirm that a landlord is not in breach solely because a tenant has refused access, provided the landlord can demonstrate they took all reasonable steps to comply. Landlords should retain copies of all communications with tenants for example appointment letters, reminder notices and follow-up correspondence as this documentary trail will be critical in evidencing reasonable steps.

That said, "reasonable steps" is not simply a matter of sending one or two letters. Social landlords have statutory rights of access to properties for the purpose of inspecting their condition and carrying out works, and these rights are typically reflected in tenancy agreements. Where persistent refusal leaves a landlord unable to fulfil its legal obligations, court proceedings, including an injunction compelling access, are a proper and available remedy. Government guidance makes clear that a landlord will not automatically be in breach for not having commenced legal proceedings, but where all other reasonable efforts have failed and electrical safety remains unverified, legal action may well be both necessary and proportionate.

Browne Jacobson regularly advises social landlords on access disputes of this kind, including successfully securing injunctions. If you are encountering access difficulties in connection with electrical inspections, or any other compliance context, our housing management team would be happy to help.

The broader picture

The new Regulations form part of a broader package of reforms aimed at raising standards in social housing, sitting alongside Awaab's Law, an updated Decent Homes Standard and Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards. The fact that the electrical safety changes may have attracted less attention than Awaab's Law does not reduce the obligations they impose.

With the November 2026 deadline for completing inspections now firmly on the horizon, this is the moment for local authorities and housing associations to review their compliance positions, get inspections scheduled and ensure their policies and procedures are fit for purpose.