Private rented property standards guidance

All electrical sockets must be suitably located within the room to prevent the use of trailing cables and extensions. 

• There must be an adequate number of electrical sockets within the room. Sockets must be in a suitable location for the safe use of appliances. Refer to Table 2 below for the minimum number of sockets for each room.
• Electrical sockets must not be located too low to the floor so that it prevents the socket from being used by appliances or causes the appliance electrical cable to bend excessively. As a guide a minimum height of 400mm from the floor should be used. All sockets below this level must be re-sited.
• All electrical sockets must be securely fitted to the wall and in full working order.
• There must be no cracks, holes, or damage of any sort to the electrical front plates or pattress boxes. 
• Any electrical socket front plate with burn marks or scorching must be replaced and the electrical installation checked for defects.
• There must be no gaps between the wall and the electrical socket that will allow access to any live electrical wiring or connections.

Electrical Safety First have produced the following guidance for the numbers of electrical sockets within specific rooms Guidance on minimum provision sockets v2 (opens new window). This is also stated in Table 2

The increased use of home electronics has led to the situation where, occupants are using more extension leads for their appliances. Many locations in their home do not have sufficient socket-outlets which may lead to risks such as: 

• DIY extensions to circuits undertaken safely if the work is carried out by unskilled persons
• DIY extension to equipment flexes 
• Cascading (daisy chaining) of extension leads 
• Stacking of adaptor plugs 

All the above will create potential hazards, such as risk of tripping over leads, electric shock or injury and damage to property through fire. 
The issues listed above must be addressed by the landlord or agent and additional sockets fitted to prevent them from occurring. 

Important

Where the number of sockets falls below the recommendations in Table 2, council officers will base the requirement for and number of additional sockets on the risks and hazards associated within each property and in line with HHSRS guidance Housing health and safety rating system (HHSRS): guidance.

Landlords and agents are advised to ensure their properties meet the recommendations or are as close to the recommendations as possible to reduce the need for further works and additional sockets.

Table 2

Minimum number of twin socket-outlets to be provided in homes