Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) in Fareham

Fareham's private rented market sits beside an active sales market, and homedata.co.uk records show 508 residential sales in the last 12 months, with 151 of them in the £288,000-£352,000 range. The same local market saw an overall average price of £350,303 over the year, while March 2026 provisional figures put the average house price at £334,000. Detached homes averaged £504,001, semi-detached properties £342,593, terraced homes £285,741 and flats £186,800, so many rental properties sit in the same value bands as owner-occupied stock. That mix of property types usually means a mix of wiring eras too. A landlord in Fareham cannot assume that one postcode tells the whole story.

Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 require landlords to have the installation inspected at least every 5 years, or sooner if the report says so. The report must come from a qualified person registered with a competent person scheme, not from a casual visual check or a handyman with a screwdriver. If our report is unsatisfactory, the landlord must act on C1 and C2 findings fast, share the report with tenants, and keep evidence for the local authority if asked. Penalties can reach £30,000 for each breach. That is a serious sum for a small fault that should have been caught earlier.

Fareham also has real development pressure around its edges, and that matters because a landlord may own a property near very new schemes and very old ones at the same time. Newlands, south of Longfield Avenue, has outline permission for up to 1,200 homes, an 80-bed care home, a primary school, commercial space, a community centre and a healthcare facility, while Welborne Garden Village is set to deliver 210 of 6,000 homes through Pye Homes. New homes at Oakcroft Chase, Crofton View and Thackeray Lodge all sit within the same wider rental and owner-occupier market. Our electricians see the contrast in consumer units, circuit layouts and accessory condition every week. That is why a label on the front door means nothing without a proper test.

• 5-year inspection cycle
• C1 and C2 faults need prompt action
• Report shared with tenants within 28 days
• Qualified person required
• Up to £30,000 penalty for non-compliance

An unsatisfactory EICR does not mean the building is unsafe to occupy, but it does mean the electrical installation needs attention. If we record a C1, we treat that as an immediate danger and advise isolation or other urgent safety action before anyone continues to use the affected part of the system. C2 findings are different, yet still serious. They show a potentially dangerous condition, and the landlord must begin remedial work within 28 days, or sooner if the report sets a shorter timescale.

Local authority enforcement can follow if a landlord ignores the report, and Fareham's rental stock is not immune just because a home sits among newer developments such as Southampton Road in Titchfield or Welborne Garden Village. Once repairs are complete, we can carry out the re-inspection or follow-up testing needed to confirm that the installation now meets the standard. The corrected report then becomes part of the compliance record, which should be kept with tenancy paperwork and shared with tenants when required. That paper trail matters if a council officer asks for evidence.

C3 items need a different approach. They do not make the report fail, but they are not harmless either, and we often see them where old accessories, dated consumer units or minor labelling issues have been left alone too long. A landlord with a property in PO14 2FN, PO16 or the surrounding streets should treat those notes as a maintenance schedule, not a shrug-and-forget comment. The report is there to stop small defects becoming dangerous faults. That is the practical point of the inspection.

• C1 means immediate danger
• C2 means urgent remedial work
• FI means more investigation is needed
• Unsatisfactory reports require follow-up
• Remedial evidence should be retained

EICR prices in Fareham start from £120 with Homemove, and the exact cost depends on what we are testing. A compact flat in PO16 with a small number of circuits will usually take less time than a larger family house near Stubbington, especially if the consumer unit has been upgraded, extended or split across outbuildings. Age matters too, because older installations can take longer to inspect and may need extra testing to confirm the condition of the wiring. We quote clearly before the visit, so there is no surprise once the inspection is complete.

The inspection price covers the visit, the testing, the written report and the coding of any observations we find. If your property has multiple kitchens, a garage consumer unit, garden power or a more complex layout, our electrician has more circuits to assess and more documentation to complete. home.co.uk listings in Fareham show new homes from £350,000-£370,000 at Oakcroft Chase and £277,950-£463,950 at Thackeray Lodge, and those higher-spec properties still need a proper electrical check before they are let or sold. Remedial work, if required, is quoted separately after the report.

Turnaround is usually straightforward once the inspection is done. You receive the EICR with the findings, the observation codes and the overall outcome, and we can then advise on next steps if any C1, C2 or FI items appear. That helps landlords in Fareham move from inspection to compliance without wasting time. It also gives homeowners a clean record if they are preparing a sale, dealing with insurers or checking a property that has had years of changes.