With the uncertainty of Brexit on the horizon, property market jitters are becoming apparent with more and more people hesitant to put their house on the market. For those brave individuals who are not letting Brexit halt their moving plans, what percentage are going to ask an Electrician to carry out a Pre-purchase Electrical Survey on a property before making an offer?

What is a Pre-Purchase Electrical Survey?

A pre-purchase electrical survey highlights the condition of the electrical wiring of a property. It also checks the safety of the electrical installation and that it adheres to British Standards. Now I know moving is an expensive time as it is, with Solicitors and Estate Agent fees, Building Surveys, and then you have all the other costs involved with moving house. Therefore, you’re probably thinking that a Pre-purchase Electrical Survey is an expense you could do without. However the benefit of having one is you know the exact condition of the property before committing yourself financially. Imagine a few months into your new home and an electrical fault occurs. You then find out that the wiring of the property is in a terrible condition and it will cost a lot of money to correct the issue!

Do I really need to have a pre-purchase electrical survey carried out?

In my personal experience, I found a pre-purchase electrical survey to be highly beneficial when moving house. The survey brought to our attention that some areas of the electrics in the house needed modernisation. For example, our kitchen, lounge and dining room power all fed off of one circuit. Now the demands of kitchens these days what with a washing machine, fridge freezer, tumble dryer, and endless amounts of other kitchen appliances we had, it was heading for a fuse overload unless we changed the current electrical set up. The two viewings we had would not have made us aware of this, as everything looked fine on the surface. Even though this problem was something that could be easily rectified, the survey helped to highlight the problem to us and made us aware of the costs before deciding on the property.

The things that showed up from us having a Building and a Pre-purchase Electrical Survey did not put us off buying this particular house, the point is we went into this house knowing what to expect and what costs were involved going forward. The survey gave us the opportunity to get a better insight into the electrical condition of our future home and therefore a decision was based on if we wanted and could afford the property or not from the findings. Alternatively, you can have a Visual Electrical Inspection carried out. This will give you reasonable insight into the condition of the electrical system in a property. The report will highlight anything that may need replacing in the future.

Whenever a customer calls us at Fulcher Edwards to find out if they should have a electrical survey on a property they are interested in. We always advise them to have one or a visual inspection as it provides you with useful information before making that offer. Its important to remember that just because something is working, it doesn’t necessarily mean there are no underlining problems and it is operating safely.

If you are considering looking for a new home anytime soon then don’t forget to budget for an Pre-purchase Electrical Survey as it could save you money in the long run. Just make sure that the electrician you use is registered with a Government-approved organisations like NICEIC, as registered Electricians will work to current British Standards.

Contact us HERE if you would like to find out more about a pre-purchase electrical survey.