Social housing electrical check.

[JenniferBooth]

Has anyone had this done and what did it entail.

Ive just received a letter saying that if i cancel the electric check with less than 24 hours notice this will be treated as failure to provide access to your property and legal action may follow. God forbid i have an emergency with my elderly mum or finally get the GP appointment to get my change in bowel habits looked into and i havent even booked the appointment yet. So there was no need for the bully boy tactics.

Ahh you are a FOMO type who thinks everything "free" must be good

Bloody hell, op, you are wasted on chat. Have you tried AIBU?

So as long as its something tenants dont have to pay for its all good.

It's for tenants. To ensure you are living in a safe and functioning home. The bastards.

If it is EMH they are unlikely to turn up anyway.

@12menandtrue Not EMH but i take it you had a no show

They usually work at the fuse box, turn things on and off, and put some sort of probes in the sockets to test them. Usually takes about half an hour.

We had a pre payment meter which malfunctioned after a power cut so needed to be replaced. So am also worrying about them cutting the power

Not me but my son. It is par for the course for EMH and the people who eventually turn up are not qualified to do the job or don't have the proper part. He has been waiting for over 12 months to get his hot water working properly. Lots of empty promises and inept workmen.

@12menandtrue And i bet he has had to take time off work

Im not saying you do this @SquashPenguin but this is from your post

If the tenant doesn’t let us in or isn’t there at the agreed time, we charge the HA for it

This explains why tenants are accused of not letting contractors in when its them who havent turned up

For sure. Tried withholding rent but they threaten action. He has given up on them

All of our contractors vans are on trackers, so if this was ever queried we have proof that we were there. We also have tenants phone numbers to see if they are on their way home/ running late etc.

It’s hardly unacceptable to charge if we get a no access. We aren’t a charity.

I'm a housing officer for a social housing provider, currently booking these same electrical checks and gas safety checks with my customers. I ring them, text them, send them an email, and do an unannounced visit to try and get the inspection booked in. Then there is a final warning letter, and finally, we apply for an injunction. We do have to be quite firm as the amount of no access is crazy. Luckily, with the gas checks, a lot of gas meters are outside, so we cap their gas if we can not gain access, which usually gets them to contact us and book an appointment. It's a legal requirement, and it is to keep customers safe.

@shivbo2014 I feel your pain! We have so much time wasted with no accesses when tenants have agreed to the time and date!

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4922126-to-think-a-three-day-call-is-not-an-appointment

Only you do pay for it, those services are included in the rent that tenants pay each month.

Who do you think pays for it? Who pays for it in private tenancies?

@shivbo2014 and @SquashPenguin

Where are your HA and how do I apply?! 😁

I'd love to have that level of communication rather than nothing at all except a 'You missed your appointment that we didn't bother telling you you had so here's a few threats to remind you not to do it again!"

I do wonder if it's because the village I live in is probably one of the furthest away and therefore they want to cram as much into one day this way as possible and bung my place on the end of someone else's. The engineers that have come and managed to catch me luckily on a day off have told me that they have been told the appointment is 'confirmed' by me when I am completely unaware of it being made in the first place, never mind have confirmed it.

This thread has reminded me it's due again soon 🤦 I hope (probably pointlessly but hey) that the organisation is better this year and I am actually asked to make an appointment or at least told when it is and who to contact if I'm at work that day (if it's too short notice to request the day off that is).

A situation such as you describe on a Saturday night IF an electrician was available then it would simply be isolate the electrics to make sage (ie turn the electric off) and wait until Monday

Leaving the tenant with no electric for a day and a half??!!

The rude letter that says its a legal document and yet hasnt been signed?!

Not sure how helpful this is, as HAs vary, but I had one fairly recently. It was around 90mins. Apart from the general safety checks it included replacing kitchen and bathroom main ceiling lights with new fixtures/l.e.d. bulbs; replacing all bathroom pull switches; replacing battery operated smoke alarm with wired version; installing heat sensor in kitchen; replacing a couple of slightly battered looking wall sockets. So, generally focused on improving safety and some minor energy efficiency. This is the second electrical check since I moved in 20 years ago. The first was done during the kitchen refit in 2008, which included replacing the fuse box and all wall sockets, plus the rear outside light fitting.

It's a legal requirement for good reason and they have to do it. Its Something you just have to deal with in social housing along with gas safety, fire etc
Try and arrange it well before your certificate runs out so if an emergency comes up you're able to rearrange.
Before the regulations house fires caused by poor electrics were common.

How about you hand your house back to the council then ? And rent privately or buy ? Honestly you sound totally unhinged and massively ungrateful wtaf is wrong with you

I was asking to be nice - assuming this song and dance over very little was actually a symptom of a bigger problem. But you are clearly hellbent on this idea that everyone is out to get you.