Missed & Missing Certificates and the legality of them?

Hi, and thank you in advance.

I have been renting a property for the last 15 years now. No major issues, until 4 years ago.

Out of the blue the landlord decided he wanted to “check” the wiring of the house. He turned up, full gear, unloaded it into the hall and stated that he was rewiring the house as he is a trained electrician. No mention of scheduie, time scales. Nothing.

Took him 7 months, on and off to do it. Left the job done in Dec 2022 and has not been back to fix all the filling and plastering he did.

Also, at no point did he ever get a Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR), or ever has done.

Further to that, I have one receipt of a boiler gas safety check in those 15 years. I know they are yearly legal requirement.

Also, he did not provide me with the "The Renters’ Rights Act Information Sheet 2026" either. Which I believe is mandatory?

The problem is or was, his wife had terminal cancer at the time (I would assume she is no longer with us), and pretty much took it out on me. Abusive and threatening language. One Sunday I texted to say I was not well enough, and that can he leave the wiring work for a couple of days because I was not well. He reacted angrily to that, and came round then are there. Which put me in a blind panic. I had to get my Mother to come round as I did not feel safe, she witnessed his behaviour. I asked him to leave at one stage, and he refused. So I phoned the police. He took my phone off me, and spoke to the police for a good 10-15 minutes. At one stage, he even admitted to looking into having me evicted (I had done nothing at all to legally warrant that at all). We “made up” and he said his behaviour was him “being like a bear with a sore head”. But my Mother witnessed the behaviour and agreed it was beyond that.

Can anyone tell me what the black and white legalities are for him for missing these certificates please? It’s been 4 years and he has not repaired what he should have. I realise what he was going through was awful, but also…I’m the tenant and he is the landlord. He’s not my mate, or anything like that.

I just want to know theoretically what would happen if I called all this in? I don’t want to do that. I would like it resolved. I like where I live, it’s been my home for 15 years. But I’m at a point where I really do not know what to do now.

From my own research, he could be facing hefty fines or prison time if this were submitted to the proper authorities?

Many thanks in advance, I realise it was a big read. I appreciate any advice anyone has to offer. Thank you!

@TheeIceBear78

Just to check, is the property in england, Scotland, wales or northern Ireland as different rules may apply.

Dont think anybody is going to give LL a heavy fine let alone prison for not supplying you as a tenant with an EICR - substantive point is the work needed to make it safe was done. He may have done and not supplied. He will simply produce a copy when required. As 5yearly the latest will be overdue

Nor is finishing up any plastering or filling a reason for a fine. - it’s cosmetic not.a safety issue unless there were wires exposed etc. You’d need independent expert opinion of a real problem and effect on you. Arguably it could be a case for reduced rent if facilities affected or worse condition than when advertised but you could have dealt with when agreeing or disputing any rent increases in last 4 years. Nothing illegal to see.

The gas safety is arguably more serious and could be a large fine from local authority (£000s) or even a prison sentence for most serious offences. Given it has happened some years I’d expect a fine more likely. However as there is no req to keep the gsrs more than a couple of years, hard to prove these werent supplied historically, it will be your word vs LL unless you have evidence from the time of not receiving it.

Councils have to consider the severity of an offence and harm done, see eg

(Extract below)

If council orders LL to rectify, and he doesnt, you may be able to ckaim a year’s rent as a RRO for period before 1 may26, and up to 2y rent for oeriod from 1 May26 on, but there’s a time limit on claiming

On the RRA info sheet there’s a fine of up to 7k for not supplying but weve yet to see how will be enforced by councils. £7000.would i expect be the more egregious offences eg a large corporate LL deliberately not supplying to many tenants.

Good luck

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In England, an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) has been mandatory for all new private tenancies since 1 July 2020, and extended to all existing private tenancies starting 1 April 2021

Key EICR Rules for Landlords

  • Frequency: Must be renewed at least every 5 years (or sooner if the previous report specifies a shorter interval).
  • New Tenancies: A valid copy must be supplied to a new tenant before they occupy the property.
  • Existing Tenancies: A copy must be provided to current tenants within 28 days of the test.
  • Remedial Work: If the report requires urgent or further investigative work, it must be completed within 28 days (or less if stated

Deciding on the level of civil penalty

Local housing authorities will need to develop and publish their own policy on determining the appropriate level of civil penalties.

Local housing authorities should consider the following factors in developing their civil penalty policies and to help ensure that the civil penalty is set at an appropriate level.

Severity of the offence

The more serious the breach or offence, the higher the penalty should be.

Culpability and track record of the offender

A higher penalty will be appropriate where the offender has a history of failing to comply with their obligations and/or their actions were deliberate and/or they knew, or ought to have known, that they were in breach of their legal responsibilities.

The harm caused

This is a very important factor when determining the level of penalty. The greater the actual harm or the potential for harm, principally to the tenant but also potentially the local community, the higher the penalty should be.

Punishment of the offender

The penalty should, in a way that is fair, both punish the offender and demonstrate the consequences of not complying with their responsibilities.

Deter the offender from repeating the offence

The ultimate goal is to prevent any further offending and help ensure that the offender fully complies with all of their legal responsibilities in future. The level of the penalty should therefore be set at a level that it is likely to have a very significant deterrent effect.

Deter others from committing similar offences

While the fact that someone has received a civil penalty may not be in the public domain, the civil penalty policy itself will be and local authorities should consider how their formal enforcement activity can be effectively publicised.

An important part of deterrence is the realisation that the local housing authority is proactive in levying civil penalties where the need to do so exists and the civil penalty will be set at a high enough level such that operating lawfully will be the sensible financial choice

Remove any financial benefit the offender may have obtained as a result of committing the offence

The principle here is that it should not be in the offender’s financial interest to commit a breach or offence rather than comply, for example that the penalty for breaching licensing conditions in respect of occupancy of a property is less than the additional rent received as a result of the over-crowding. The absence of any financial benefit does not mean though that the penalty should be reduced.

It is for each local housing authority to adopt a policy that takes into account all the above factors. In setting civil penalties for breaches and offences, local housing authorities should use the following steps.

The breaches and offences I noted were failure to get a valid EICR, failure to get a valid GSC, failure to serve the RRA information sheet and harassment. These carry fines/civil penalties and you could in theory claim up to 2 years rent back through a rent repayment order. The costs would probably wipe him out. There could be other failures we don’t know about, such as category one HHSRS hazards.

The problem is that you want to keep living there and if you take action on any of these it could result in him selling up or even the property being subject to a closure order. I think that on balance you should start to look for somewhere else to live as you don’t know whether the property is safe. Call Shelter to discuss your options.

Property is in England. Thank you for the information so far.

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Thank you for the information. Much appreciated.