About To Buy A House With Electrical Problems? – Here Is What You Should Know

Buying A House With Electrical Problems
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If you are considering buying a house with electrical problems, it’s important to understand the risks involved.

And with two-thirds of home buyers not having the home’s electrics checked by a professional beforehand means we might soon come to regret our purchase.

One of the big issues is that home buyers who invest in a full survey may believe that this will include an electrical inspection – it doesn’t. At least not properly, however, it will highlight if the electrics should be checked.

That said, most surveyors will put this in as standard to cover their backs, in our experience.

But with one-third of home buyers soon discovering an electrical issue, according to the charity Electrical Safety First, means they will be on the hook for an average bill of £1,700 – and some would have been facing a much more expensive full rewire.

We’ve bought houses with electrical problems in the past, but we’ve always made sure to get a quote for bringing things up to current regulations before we’ve committed to purchasing the property. This way, you can always use the quote as a basis for renegotiating the purchase price if necessary.

So based on our experience, we will look into what you need to do to ensure that the purchase of your dream home won’t turn into a nightmare.

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The importance of getting electrical problems sorted

Example of very old electrical work
Dated electrics like this can often be seen in older properties.

There are a few different types of electrical problems that can occur in a home. These include:

  • Faulty wiring
  • Overloaded circuits
  • Outdated or damaged electrical outlets

Ignoring these problems can lead to serious consequences, such as fires or electrical shocks. Let’s face it: you could be putting your – and your family’s – life at risk.

Some home insurance policies may even require that the electrical work be up to a certain standard for the home insurance to be valid.

Buying a house that has electrical issues can be a risk for several reasons. But the main one is that it can pose a safety risk. Outdated or damaged wiring, sockets and consumer units can lead to fires.

There can be severe electrocution risks if you don't fix the electrical problems in your house.

According to statistics by Electrical safety first, every year around 200,000 fires in the UK are caused by electrics. While some of these will be due to faulty appliances or their misuse, a good portion is caused by outdated or faulty electrics in the properties.

So it’s vital that any electrical problems are solved as soon as possible. After all, you don’t want to live in a house that isn’t safe.

Of course, this comes with costs, which you should take into account before you sign on the dotted line. Given the risk involved, here is what you should do before buying a property you think has electrical problems.

Steps to take before buying a house with electrical problems

There are different ways to find out if a property you are interested in buying potentially has electrical problems:

  • The electrical consumer unit looks old
  • The Homebuyers Report might have flagged the electrics as a potential issue
  • You noticed the lights flickering during a viewing
  • The TA6 Form indicates that nothing has been done with the electrics for a while

For whatever reason you believe the home you are interested in buying has electrical issues, take these steps to make sure you don’t encounter huge issues after you’ve bought it.

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1. Get information about the electrical system

Find out when the house has been last fully rewired or any maintenance has been carried out. You can do this by asking the owner/estate agent. Also, ask to see the Electrical Certificate if any work has been carried out in the past few years.

If you are already at the enquiry stage of the conveyancing process, you can ask your solicitor to get this information from the sellers.

This information will tell you when the electric system has been looked at last. The more time has passed since, the more likely is it that there could be issues.

2. Get an electrician to check the system

hands of electrician working on a consumer unit with a screw driver

If you aren’t satisfied with the information you have received or if it looks like the electric system might be quite old, arrange for a qualified electrician to check the system.

To find a registered, competent electrician, you can use the Registered Competent Persons website for electrics. Just put the postcode of the property in, and it will show you competent electricians in the area.

It also shows you if they are doing inspections, which not all of them do. This will give you an idea of the scale of the problem and how much it would cost to fix – if there is a problem.

You might be unwilling to fork out money for something that could potentially mean you won’t buy the house. But given the risks involved, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

And once you know what it takes to fix the issue, if there is one and how much it will cost, you can move on to the next step.

Just be aware that if you haven’t made an offer yet, the seller might be hesitant to allow this inspection.

We’ve always asked the seller if we can arrange for an electrician to check the work and provide a quote, after we made an offer.

However, we’ve found that many tradespeople aren’t keen to quote for work on properties people haven’t even bought yet. They fear it will be a waste of their time if you don’t buy the property.

For this reason, in our experience, it’s often best to ask the seller to arrange for a quote with a reputable electrician. Again, they might not be happy to do so if you haven’t put an offer in yet.

3. Negotiate or re-negotiate a price

Negotiation table

Once you know what you are dealing with and what it will cost you to put it right, you can look at what you would be willing to pay for the property.

Depending on what stage in the process you are at, this means either making a lower offer that reflects the costs you would have for rectifying the electrical issue. Or re-negotiating the price, which is called gazundering, based on the new situation.

You can use the quote you got, or the seller got, as a basis for your negotiations. If the electrical system is really old or if an electrician has identified a safety issue, it’s likely that the negotiations succeed. After all, it’s likely to come up with other potential buyers.

4. Ask the seller to fix the problem

We’ve put this as step 4, but it can be done before the previous one as well, depending on your preference.

Personally, we prefer for the seller to discount the purchase price accordingly and for us to arrange the improvement works. That way, we know it’s been done correctly.

However, not everyone will be happy with this so if the seller insists on getting the work done – make sure they send you acceptable proof well in advance of exchanging contracts. This should include an electrical certificate and warranty documents.

If negotiating a lower price based on the costs to fix the electrical issues isn’t successful, then asking the seller to fix the problem is another way to progress with the purchase. After all, what’s most important is that the issue is resolved.

Most sellers will either be willing to lower the asking price or fix the issues, as they will know that if they refuse and the buyer walks away, the next one might bring up the same concerns.

But if they are unwilling or unable to do either due to the financial impact, you should consider your next step carefully.

5. Be prepared to walk away

woman walking away from the camera

If you find yourself in the position where the seller isn’t prepared to reduce the price or pay to fix the issue before the sale goes through, you have to weigh up if you still want to buy the property.

As we have said, buying a house with electrical problems can be risky, so everything needs to be considered, including:

  • Can you afford to buy the house at a higher price and fix the issue?
  • If so, are you willing to do so? – you might have fallen in love with the house, but you need to keep a cool head now
  • If you can’t afford this, how long until you can fix the problem?
  • Is it worth the risk to wait to solve the problem? – keep in mind that until the electrical problem is fixed it poses a safety risk

Only you can decide what to do, but you should be prepared to walk away if all else fails.

Typical costs to fix electrical problems

The cost of repairing electrical problems in a home can vary depending on the severity of the issue.

The bill will also depend on where you live in the UK and whether you need the electrician to ‘chase’ the wires – that is, to hide them in the walls. [Prices correct as of November 2024]

  • For minor repairs, such as replacing a light switch or a dimmer switch, you may only need to spend £70-£80.
  • Adding a light to your loft would be £190-£200, fitting kitchen downlights – £60 – £70 per downlight, but fit an external electric light, and the bill could be up to £160 – £170.
  • Add two double sockets to a room, and you’ll pay between £140 – £190, installing an electric shower, and that will be up to £450.
  • Rewire a two-bedroom terrace house, and that could take just over a week and cost between up to £4,600. The three-bedroom home will cost up to £5,500, while a four-bed detached could be up to a whopping £7,300.

When we bought our first property, the electrics weren’t up to the current standards, and so we had to arrange for a rewire of the property.

Thankfully, as we were moving from a rented flat, we could overlap our lease with the purchase of the house, giving us a week or so to get things like this done before we moved in. That helped the electrician as nothing was in his way, but it also meant we didn’t have the upheaval that comes with a full rewire.

It ended up costing us around £4,000 to rewire a good-sized 3-bed property including adding new sockets and a consumer unit. That was in 2009 though, as you can see nowadays it would have cost us more.

That’s why it’s always worth getting things checked out as the cost to fix electrical issues can be quite high, plus there can be cosmetic repairs needed to walls, floors and ceilings afterwards too.

One thing we did learn though is that you need to make sure you get the correct certificates (and keep them safe!) for any electrical work you have done. We didn’t do this in our first home as we didn’t know.

When we came to sell, the buyer’s solicitor raised issue with it, and we had to pay for a new inspection to be carried out to satisfy them everything was safe, and no further work was required. Today such an inspection would set you back around £250.

Buying a house with electrical problems

messy old electrical system

There’s no doubt that electrical problems can be a big expense, so it’s important to get a professional opinion before you buy a property that you either suspect or know has electrical issues.

The key here is to get the big picture first, so that you know exactly what you’re up against. What is the problem, how easy is it to fix it, and how much will it cost?

Once you know that, you can take the next step and ask the seller to fix the problem or reduce the asking price accordingly so you can fix it.

As we know from our experiences, having up-to-date electrics gives you peace of mind when using electrical appliances. It also means that when you come to sell the property, you’ll have all the certificates needed to satisfy the buyer’s solicitor enquiries.

One tip we would give is that once your electrics are up-to-date, get them checked every few years. Also, whenever you have any electrical work done, make sure you get any necessary electrical works certificates as it will save you a lot of hassle when you next sell.

But the main tip when buying a property with electrical problems is not to ignore them – whether they have been highlighted in a report or you can see an issue – because electrical faults need fixing as quickly as possible.

Authors

  • Steve Lumley

    Steve Lumley has years of experience writing about property. His output has covered everything from property investment, news for landlords and student tenants to articles on how to run a successful portfolio and starting out as a property investor. He has also written several books on the subject.

    View all posts
  • Paul James

    Paul James, is a marketing expert with a passion for property. As well as being a property investor, Paul has also worked within the marketing departments of some of the UK’s leading estate agents. Paul is the founder of Property Road.

    View all posts
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