Social Housing EICRs Are Now Mandatory: The 2026 Deadline

For years, mandatory five-yearly electrical inspections applied only to private landlords. That gap has now closed. The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) (Amendment) (Extension to the Social Rented Sector) Regulations 2025 bring social housing into line, and the clock is already running.

The timeline you cannot miss

The rules took effect for new social housing tenancies from 1 November 2025. For tenancies that began before 1 December 2025, the regulations apply from 1 May 2026, and every affected property must have a satisfactory inspection completed no later than 1 November 2026.

What the rules actually require

The duties mirror the private rented sector regime that has run since 2020. Social landlords must:

• Have the fixed electrical installation inspected and tested at least every five years by a qualified person.
• Obtain a report (the EICR) setting out the results and any required remedial or further investigative work.
• Supply a copy of the report to the tenant within 28 days, and to a new tenant before they move in.
• Complete any remedial work flagged as required within 28 days, or sooner if the report specifies, then provide written confirmation to the tenant and the local authority.
• Test any landlord-supplied electrical appliances at least every five years.

An EICR is only satisfactory when it contains no C1 (danger present) or C2 (potentially dangerous) codes, and no FI (further investigation) results. If you are not certain how those classifications drive the pass or fail decision, our guide to EICR classification codes breaks down C1, C2, C3 and FI.

What this means for electricians

There are roughly four million social homes in England. Many already have a recent EICR as a matter of good practice, but a large share will need a first inspection inside this window. That is a sustained block of fixed-wire testing work, often across large portfolios where consistency of documentation matters as much as the inspection itself.

Landlords and managing agents will expect clean, auditable paperwork they can hand to a local authority on request. The single most common reason an inspection round stalls is missing or inconsistent reports, not the testing itself.

Get the documentation right

Whether you are issuing a periodic EICR on existing wiring or an Electrical Installation Certificate after remedial work, the report has to be complete, correctly coded and delivered inside the 28-day window. CertBox produces BS 7671 model-form certificates on site, on any device, so the report is finished before you leave.

For the full legal detail, see the government response on extending electrical safety standards to the social rented sector.

Published 2026-06-24. This article is for general guidance only and does not constitute legal or professional advice. Always refer to the relevant standards and consult qualified professionals for definitive requirements.