electrical report / new house

[lotsofmumlove]

Had an electrical report done on a new house nearly at exchanging contracts stage . It’s 1930’s house . The report came back unsatisfactory with a few little jobs to do to make it satisfactory ,

These are required for a satisfactory report

replace surface mount 1 gang back box
install unsupported pendant £126.32

these are required for a clear report

new cable and junction box from garage to extension
replace 5 x led gu 10 lamps
new consumer unit with surge protection type A rcd metal fire proof enclosure £798.26

Also the original house still has old wiring tinned copper stranded wires in use which test out as satisfactory but would still be recommend rewire due to age

he said he thinks it was rewired 1950’s 1960’s …..

i don’t really want to rewire not yet anyway … I’m a single parent and I just don’t think I could afford to at the moment .
the thought of all the mess makes me stressed .

anyone else move in to a property and chose not to rewire ? Or at least not for a while ? He did say if I keep getting it tested every 5 years … should be ok .

You could ask if the vendors will go half on it. Otherwise, if you like the house, I’d go ahead. All old houses have things that need fixing.

Are you otherwise happy with the installation (locations of sockets etc.)?

If so, and the existing wiring is not dangerous then I would not even contemplate a full or partial rewire which would run into many thousands of pounds of expense (easily £5k-£8k for a 3 bed) as well as the hassle involved

Do the little bits that are needed to get it up to satisfactory and then you could optionally do the other jobs (like the consumer unit) as and when you could afford them.

Very few EICRs will come up completely clear because the wiring standards are changing all the time. Even my house built in 2012 is only "satisfactory" because the consumer unit is plastic not metal. (I have no plans to replace it any time soon!)

Just to add, the reasons I would consider rewiring when moving into a property would be if the existing electrics are completely shot, or non-existent, or not fit for purpose. It doesn't sound as though that's anything like the case here.

Just as a warning- is your lender okay with that report? Some lenders will insist on rewires even if they aren't necessary. Otherwise, do what you need to make it safe if money is tight, but with a setup that old, I'd budget/save up for a rewire in the future before I did any other optional or purely decorative work. A system that old is likely to be very short of power points. So while you save, work out where you will want them- this is a big advantage over rewiring before you move in as you'll know where you need them.
And meantime, don't put in metal light switches- stick with plastic. Older earthing systems aren't suitable for metal light switches.