Debate contribution: The draft Electrical Safety Standards for Private Tenancies Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2024
Debate contribution by Mr Gordon Lyons on .
- MLA
- Mr Gordon Lyons
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 19 November 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Executive Committee Business
- Heading
- The draft Electrical Safety Standards for Private Tenancies Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2024
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4666013
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I beg to move
The draft Electrical Safety Standards for Private Tenancies Regulations 2024 aim to remove danger to life and to reduce the risk of injury and damage to property. The regulations therefore introduce five-yearly certified electrical safety checks of a private rental property's hardwired electrical installation by a qualified electrician. Northern Ireland census data shows that, over the past 40 years, the percentage of households that privately rent has nearly doubled. Today, over 300,000 people live in over 130,000 privately rented households. As Members would expect, growth in the sector has been matched by increasing diversity in its tenant characteristics. There are now more families with children in the private rented sector than in the social sector. There are also around 27,000 people living in the sector who have disabilities, while nearly 18,000 tenants are aged 65 or over. It is imperative that we remind ourselves why the regulations are important. 'Recharge', a report by Electrical Safety First (ESF), estimates that nearly 60% of all accidental fires in Northern Ireland homes are caused by electrical faults. It also highlights the fact that events are particularly traumatic for those in higher-risk groups as a result of, for example, their age or their having a disability. Compared with that in the rest of the United Kingdom, there is currently limited electrical safety protection for private tenants in Northern Ireland. The Scottish Government, for example, required private rental properties to have mandatory five-yearly electrical checks from 2015. A similar requirement was introduced in England in June 2020, and Wales followed suit in 2022. In Northern Ireland, although private rental landlords must undertake an annual safety check of gas boilers, there is no mandatory legislative requirement for them to check a rental property's electrical system. Currently, it is recommended only that landlords ensure that electrical fixed-wiring installations remain safe to use. I therefore think that Members will agree that it makes sense that, as a safeguard for tenants, we move to legislate to introduce five-yearly electrical safety checks of a private rental property's hardwired electrical installation. Given the technical content, the regulations have been developed by my Department with assistance from an expert advisory panel. The panel included representatives from Electrical Safety First, the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS), council enforcement divisions and the Department of Finance's construction division. The electrical installation must meet the required standards specified under the regulations, and landlords must provide a copy of the electrician's report to their tenant and, on request, to the council. The inspection will investigate key issues, including whether any part of the electrical installation is overloaded, whether there are any potential electric shock risks and fire hazards and whether there is any defective electrical work. Following the inspection, the landlord will be given a report from the electrician. The report will explain the outcome of the inspection and state whether any further investigative or remedial work needs to be undertaken. Where the inspection report details that remedial action needs to be taken to fix any identified faults, that work must be completed within the time frame specified in the electrician's report. Written confirmation must then be obtained from the electrician when the fault has been dealt with. As with the other parts of the Private Tenancies (Northern Ireland) Order 2006, councils will be responsible for the associated enforcement action. The regulations were subject to a 12-week consultation that ran from September 2023. The estimated financial impact on landlords was highlighted in the regulatory impact assessment and was drawn to stakeholders' attention during the consultation period. The financial impact was assessed as not being overly onerous on the sector, on the basis of the cost of five-yearly inspection being in and around £200. Remedial action would attract an additional cost, but that needs to be viewed in the broader context of tenant safety and the reduction of damage to a rental property due to an electrical fault. During the consultation, no major issues emerged that required substantive change to the regulations or the associated guidance notes. The two main points that were raised and accepted with the agreement of the advisory panel related to the need for an appropriate lead-in time for compliance to take account of the supply of electricians to complete the inspections and an early communication strategy to raise awareness among key stakeholders of the legislative change and the requirements outlined in the regulations. Both points were taken on board in setting operational time frames, and my Department has been proactive in raising awareness of the potential legislative change. Furthermore, the regulations will be accompanied by easy-to-read guidance notes that explain the inspection and reporting regime in a step-by-step process. The measures are proportionate, common-sense changes that will further improve health and safety for people living in the private rented sector. They will protect life and reduce the risk of serious injury. The changes are good news for tenants, landlords, the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service and the health service. Most importantly, they are good news for preventing avoidable fatalities. I commend them to the House.
849 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.02 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.90).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- Subject area: Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits.
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.02 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.01 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.90 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.02 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits | 0.83 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.13 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.03 |
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.01 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:37 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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