Seller refusing EICR

[Nobodywantsthis]

We are in the process of buying a Victorian terraced house. Seller has never had the electrics tested so we have no idea how old the electrics are. They are refusing to do one before exchange. We've offered to pay for one but they won't allow access. This makes me very anxious.
I understand it's not a legal requirement to have one but our solicitor recommended it and so did the homebuyers survey.
What are our options now? Worst case scenario we move in then find out it isn't safe/needs a rewire - how much would this cost? And is it disruptive? I have a young family and work full time so we really don't want the stress or cost of having major work done.

I wouldn't proceed - if they aren't willing to be open and engaged about this, what else are they being less than forthcoming about? And electrical safety is so important. It's been recommended by your solicitor and the survey, so if the sellers don't want to engage, would you be prepared to walk away?

Don't buy. If they are that obstructive it's probably because they already know there's a £10k rewiring job needed urgently.

Deduct the price of a full rewire from your offer and tell them you can only proceed with the assumption the electrics aren't safe in their home. That might sharpen their focus.

We rewired a Victorian terrace recently. Cost £18 k and was pretty disruptive. Assume it needs doing if seller is being evasive

Withdraw your offer. It's obviously a problem.

Wow thanks everyone, that's confirmed my gut feeling! I will speak to the solicitor tomorrow. Hopefully we can renegotiate as we really love the house and don't want to walk away.

As well as the rewire cost you will need to think about making good, plasterwork, redecoration if necessary. It will be very expensive as others have said.

Also factor in you really don't want to be there when the work is being done so will need to find alternative accommodation.

As pp suggests ask for the cost reduction based on the assumption it will be needed as they are being so shady.

I'm going to go against the grain. Getting an EICR is not a standard part of getting your house ready to sell. Yes surveyors and solicitors will always recommend but they are very risk adverse.
If this is a deal breaker for you I'd avoid looking at old houses in general as they always have things that need updating or repairing.

Assume it needs rewiring and pay what you’d be happy to pay for it, taking that into account.

You tell them they either allow your chosen professional access to carry out the survey, or you walk away from the purchase. And stick to your guns.

We fully rewired a Victorian terrace in 2022 and it cost us £7.5k, plus plastering, redecorating etc (was a full refurb so would’ve done that anyway). I think the red flag is that they won’t let you have one even if you’re paying for it, likely as they know something will come up and you’ll renegotiate the price.

@Nobodywantsthis You really like the house so saying you will deduct the price of a rewire is not going to help you buy it. If the vendor will not allow an EICR then I very much doubt they will accept a 5 figure deduction, so you need to find a way to come to an agreeable compromise to allow you to proceed.

An EICR is not a legal requirement so the vendor does not have to pay for one or accept having one done even if you pay for it. Can you remember, or on the property details, can you describe what the light switches and plug sockets were like (modern, bakelite etc), the height plug sockets are and what the fusebox looked like? It may help determine the age of the electrics.

The reason I am asking that, is it maybe the EICR will be fine or the house may only need a new fuseboard which is not alot of money.

The compromise you may be able to achieve is the vendor allows the EICR to take place, you guarantee to them you will not expect them to do any remedial work required and will not make any deduction from the house price. It may be the reassurance they need.

I would expect the electrics have been renewed at some point during the houses history. It may require a rewire at somepoint but if the EICR says it is safe there is no reason not to proceed. You need to make this clear to the vendor.

I think homebuyers reports usually recommend an electrical check unless clearly not needed, eg new house or recently rewired.

Did you get a sense of whether the sockets, light switches and fuse box looked modern or old? I find very few people rewire after moving in, do you know how long the previous owners lived there?

A full rewire is unfortunately disruptive and you will then have areas needing replastering and redecorating afterwards. Easier if you can temporarily move out whilst it's being done.

The check may just recommend some upgrades in a few areas though rather than a full rewire. It's frustrating that the sellers won't allow the check. Even if you still buy the house, it would be helpful to know if it warrants a rewire before you move in.

Agree with this. Demanding an EICR sounds like a major over-reaction to what is standard boilerplate survey content.

Our buyer asked for one, which we paid for ourselves as we thought everything had been done correctly and it had been signed off. Turned out we had faulty work and it cost us £1k to get it all sorted!

The electrician said basically unless it was a new build nothing would pass to standard although there are different passes - one is safe but not to current code which is the best you can hope for!

Most sellers will scream caveat emptor and sold as seen if you complain after the event.

It's unreasonable in many cases for the seller to have to pay checks that the buyer wants, but in my opinion if the buyer wants a check, is going to pay for it and the seller refuses to allow it that is a whole new issue.

As a buyer I would run for the hills if I wanted a check and a seller refused to let me have it if I was paying for it.

The only other way to proceed IMO is the worst case scenario, and that on purchasing you are going to have to pay the costs associated with that.

Im not sure why you think the electrics are unsafe ? Just test everything is working ok in the house, which if there are people living there I’m sure they are.

If there are still bakelight switches and sockets dotted about and the fuseboard is full of ceramic fuses them yes there might be an issue 🙂

having a full electrial inspection can be quite disruptive as you have to take off all the socket fronts and unscrew light fitting which can damage decoration and mean removing furniture. Its not a ten minute job.

That said. My garage / workshop. Still has 1930’s black rubber wiring and bakelight switchs/ sockets and is still working fine , though i wouldn’t fancy pulling a fuse as i think they would just crumble 🤣⚡️

Save your love for people not buildings. A different house will be equally full of love once you have made it your home.

How strongly worded was the recommendation to get the electrics tested. A normal survey is full of arse-covering sentences like 'The surveyor did not carry out any tests on the electric system and the buyer should commission separate tests if this is required" that's just normal legalese for "You can't sue us for doing a shoddy survey if you have to fork out £20,000 for a complete replacement of the electrical system before you can plug anything in" and doesn't mean there's a problem. An older house will have older circuitry which could probably do with an upgrade but if the current occupiers can have a normal range of electrical appliances on the go this probably isn't an urgent requirement. If the surveyor actually saw something concerning that indicated a likelihood of something unsafe electrically they would have worded it more strongly.

The seller being so obstructive would make me concerned that they were hiding something. As you really love the house, you can try to renegotiate on the assumption that they know something is wrong. If not, you may need to pull out. The system works on trust in the UK as checks are not done upfront by the vendor, as they are in many other countries. It's hard to trust the seller in this situation.