Putting your home on the market to rent is an excellent way of creating a consistent passive income with many landlords able to retire comfortably as a result, However, that’s not to say that the process is quite as simple as just finding a tenant. Maintaining your rental property plays a very important part. Becoming a landlord also means having to do your due diligence when it comes to ensuring that your property is safe and up to a high standard for those who move in it
With that in mind, there are a few services that you should call on before looking to rent out your home, including having your plumbing surveyed, any small repairs completed, and – of course – ensuring that the electrical systems within the property are all working well and are entirely safe.
Here are just five ways that an electrician can help you to ensure that your home is ready for your new tenants.
Have Security Features Fitted
These days, it’s incredibly important to ensure that your property is as safe as possible – for you and for your tenants. For that reason, it’s always a good idea to have certain security features fitted within your home.
At the very least, ensure that you have a burglar alarm installed, as this will leave your tenants feeling far safer and will help to prevent the home being targeted by intruders. If you’d like to go the extra mile in keeping your property and your tenants protected, consider having a CCTV system installed on the exterior of your home. Not only will this make it far less likely that the home and any cars on the outside of the property are targeted by vandals, intruders or thieves, but it will demonstrate to potential tenants you are serious about ensuring that the property is as safe as possible for them to live in.
General Electrical Repairs And Maintenance
Having your home inspected by an electrician will allow you to identify any electrical problems within the home and have them fixed to a high standard before a tenant moves in.
As a landlord, any issues that come to light while your tenants reside in the property are ultimately down to you to fix. With this in mind, it makes sense to ensure that any existing problems are identified and sorted before a family moves in to the property – not only will this protect the tenants, but it will protect your reputation as a landlord and potentially save you some money, too. After all, if a problem is left unresolved, it will cost far more to fix in the long run.
There are a wide range of electrical issues that could occur in any home, so it’s always best to ensure that these problems don’t exist within your property before you look to move anyone new into the home.
Fuse Board Replacement
Some of the most common electrical issues that may occur within the home are down to a faulty fuse box – however, the fact that problems related to fuse boxes are common won’t make them any less desirable or irritating in the eyes of your tenants.
If you encounter any issues with the fuse boards within your property, especially if these issues occur frequently or become more common with time, the best option is to have the fuse board itself replaced. After the installation of a brand new fuse board, these problems should either stop or become very rare.
Having a fuse board that often trips or leads to a power cut within the house will have a constant detrimental effect on the day-to-day living of your tenants, so always ensure that your fuse box is working well and doesn’t cause any recurring issues before you have tenants move into the property.
Earth Bonding
Safety should always come first when you are looking to rent out your home to new tenants. After all, the aim of a landlord should always be that their property is a safe and secure place for their tenants to live – and if any issues should occur out of negligence on your part, you could definitely find yourself in hot water.
Earth bonding is just one way that you can ensure that the electrical systems within your home are as safe as possible. The process is designed to limit the voltage level of any accessible electrically conductive parts in order to reduce the risk of electric shock.
As electric shocks can be so dangerous – even fatal – it’s incredibly important to ensure that your house is earthed before moving in a tenant. If you are unsure whether or not your house is earthed, need earth bonding carried out or would simply like your earth bonding checked, don’t hesitate to have an electrician check it out for you. Here at ProElec, we can carry out a wide range of earth bonding services for you.
Electrical Installation Condition Reports (EICR)
A hugely important one! Electrical Installation Condition Reports are there to ensure that the electrical systems within your property are safe and up to current standard, as well as identifying any wear and tear of the system that could lead to electrical faults or put safety at risk and, most importantly, to identify any issues that could potentially lead to electric shocks.
If you’re looking to rent out your property, you should always have an inspection carried out, identify and resolve any issues and have an up-to-date EICR document in your possession before having tenants moved into the home.
EICR inspections should be carried out at least every five to ten years in homes that are occupied by the owner, though they should be done every five years in homes which are occupied by a tenant. So, if you’re unsure when your last EICR inspection was carried out or know that your inspection is overdue, be sure to have an inspection scheduled before renting out your property. Regulations came into force on 1 June 2020 and form part of the Department’s wider work to improve safety in all residential premises and particularly in the private rented sector.
All the services listed above are services that can be carried out by ProElec Electrical Services. Experienced, professional and fully-insured, we will make it our mission to ensure that every part of the electrical system is safe and up to standard, so that you can rent out your property to new tenants with peace of mind.
If you’d like to enquire about any of the services above or any other service that we offer, please don’t hesitate to get in touch today! we’re here to help you get the job done. We offer electrical services across the Greater Manchester area, along with Cheshire, Merseyside, Newton-le-Willows, Warrington, and Wigan. One of our friendly team of NICEIC accredited local electricians will help you turn your dream outdoor living space into a reality. You can contact us at 01925 222197 or drop us an email at lee.churton@electrican2hire.co.uk