My Lords, I will speak to Amendment 95A. The Long Title of the Bill is very clear. It includes the phrase
“in connection with the remediation of building defects”.
Much of the debate has been on the management and funding of remediation and maintenance, but the early identification of defects is clearly really important in order to avoid some of the problems that can occur, as, tragically, we have seen, for instance, in the Grenfell Tower fire.
That fire was caused by a faulty electrical appliance, but there is also a large number of fires caused by faulty electrical installations. Indeed, the charity Electrical Safety First has calculated that there are around nine such fires every single day in England and Wales. On average, they cost about £32,500, but they have in many cases ruined lives, and on a few occasions have meant, tragically, that people have lost their lives. Quite clearly, it makes a great deal of sense to identify faults at the earliest possible opportunity.
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I have talked previously in your Lordships’ House about the dangers of faulty electrical appliances, but this amendment relates specifically to electrical installations—the wiring, the fuse-box, the sockets and so on. I am absolutely delighted that when I have raised these issues in the past, the Government have concluded that action should be taken. I am delighted that we now either have already in place, or will shortly have in place, measures that ensure that, in all forms of rented accommodation, there is a requirement for a five-yearly inspection of electrical installations. Indeed, there is a requirement that they have an electrical installation condition report produced, which will identify any potential faults and suggest ways of dealing with them, to avoid a major fire occurring.
Unfortunately, so far there is absolutely nothing in place for the 17 million properties in England and Wales that are owner-occupied; nothing similar is currently planned. About a year ago, I introduced a Private Member’s Bill in your Lordships’ House to address that issue; I am grateful to many noble Lords, as well as the fire brigades and a large number of outside organisations, who supported me and enabled that Bill to get through your Lordships’ House. Unfortunately, the Government did not find the time in the other place for the Bill to be considered. As a result, that Bill—something that was supported across your Lordships’ House, with huge support outside, including from organisations that represent owner-occupiers—has not gone through, sadly.
This amendment is simply to replicate and put the measures I proposed at that time in place. Quite simply, it would require not a five-yearly check, because that would be difficult to do, but, at the point of sale of an owner-occupied property, that an EICR—electrical installation condition report—be produced and made
available to the new purchaser. It would cost between £150 and £250; they are already being carried out around the country in rented properties by qualified electricians, and have been saving lives and money. Something similar should be happening in the owner-occupied sector.
This is a relatively simple amendment. It would mean, based on the rate of sale of properties in England and Wales, that about 1 million properties a year would have the benefit of this electrical installation condition report being carried out. It is something I hope your Lordships will accept.
I will add one caveat. When you look at the details of this issue—during earlier deliberations on the Bill, high-rise properties have been talked about a lot. I recognise that there are a number of high-rise properties that have a mixture of tenure; there are some rented and some owner-occupied properties there. There is a good case for arguing, in the case of such properties, that there is a requirement for a five-yearly check on the owner-occupied properties within a high-rise building.
Certainly, if the principle of my amendment is accepted by the Government today—I hope very much that it will and they will be willing to have further discussions about it—perhaps at a later stage we could also look at a slightly different approach in respect of owner-occupied properties in such multi-tenure high-rise buildings.