The £40,000 EICR Fine — What Every York Landlord Needs to Know

Last month I carried out an EICR on a two-bedroom terrace in Holgate. The landlord had owned it for eleven years and never had the electrics tested. Not once. He didn’t know he was required to, and he didn’t know that the maximum fine for failing to comply had just increased to £40,000.

That conversation, the one where I explain what the regulations actually say and what happens if they’re ignored, is one I have more often than you’d expect. So I’m putting it here, clearly, for every landlord and letting agent in York who needs the facts.

The Law: Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020

Since 1 April 2021, every private rented property in England must have an Electrical Installation Condition Report carried out by a qualified electrician at least every five years. That’s not guidance. It’s law.

The regulations apply to all private landlords, including those who let through agents. They apply to houses, flats, HMOs, and rooms let individually. If you take rent for a property, you need a valid EICR.

The Fine: £40,000 Since November 2025

On 1 November 2025, the maximum civil penalty for breaching the Electrical Safety Standards Regulations increased from £30,000 to £40,000. The higher maximum applies to incidents from 1 May 2026 onwards.

That £40,000 is the ceiling, not the starting point. The actual penalty depends on the severity of the breach, the landlord’s history, and whether the non-compliance was deliberate. But it’s worth understanding what “breach” looks like in practice, because it’s broader than most landlords realise.

What Actually Triggers Enforcement

It’s not just about having no EICR at all. Enforcement can be triggered by any of these situations:

No EICR exists. The property has never been tested, or the previous report expired more than five years ago. This is the most straightforward breach and the most common one I see in York, particularly with landlords who bought before 2020 and didn’t realise the law had changed.

The EICR identified defects but no remedial work was carried out. If the report flagged C1 or C2 codes and the landlord didn’t arrange the work within 28 days, that’s a separate breach. The report exists, but the obligation wasn’t fulfilled.

The tenant wasn’t given a copy. Even if the EICR is up to date and the electrics are fine, failing to provide the tenant with a copy of the report is itself a breach of the regulations.

The local authority requested a copy and didn’t receive it within seven days. City of York Council has the power to request your EICR at any time. If you can’t produce it within a week, you’re non-compliant.

The 28-Day Remedial Deadline

This is the part that catches people out. When an EICR identifies a C1 or C2 code, the clock starts immediately. You have 28 days from the date of the report to have the remedial work completed by a qualified electrician and to obtain written confirmation that the work has been done.

That confirmation then needs to go to the tenant and the local authority (if they’re involved) within 28 days of the work being completed.

Twenty-eight days sounds generous until you factor in finding an available electrician, ordering parts if needed, and coordinating access with the tenant. On a property with multiple C2 defects, which isn’t unusual on older terraces in areas like Acomb, Bishopthorpe, or Tang Hall, the work itself might take a full day. I’d always recommend booking the remedial work as soon as the report is issued, not waiting until week three.

What Happens During Enforcement

If a tenant complains to City of York Council, or if the council identifies a non-compliant property through its own checks, the process typically follows this path:

The council requests a copy of the EICR. You have seven days to provide it. If you can’t, that’s already a breach.

If no valid EICR exists, the council can issue a remedial action notice. This requires you to arrange an inspection within 28 days. If you don’t, the council can arrange one itself, and charge you for it.

The council can arrange urgent remedial work if there’s an immediate risk to tenants, and recover the cost from the landlord.

A financial penalty notice of up to £40,000 can be issued for each breach. This is a civil penalty, it doesn’t require a criminal prosecution, and there’s no court hearing unless you appeal. The council decides the amount based on the severity of the breach, your compliance history, and whether the failure was deliberate or negligent.

What I See in York

Most of the non-compliant landlords I come across aren’t negligent, they genuinely don’t know the regulations exist. The 2020 Regulations came into force during Covid, and the communication to smaller landlords was poor. Many were used to the old system where gas safety certificates were the main compliance item, and electrics were largely optional unless the property was an HMO.

That doesn’t make them exempt. The law applies regardless of whether you knew about it, and “I didn’t know” isn’t a defence against a civil penalty.

If you’re a landlord in York and you’re reading this wondering whether your properties are compliant, the answer is straightforward: check when your last EICR was carried out. If it was more than five years ago, or if one has never been done, you need to book one now. Not next month. Now.

How I Price EICRs for Landlords

I price every EICR by circuit count, not by the number of bedrooms. A two-bedroom flat with twelve circuits is a completely different job from a two-bedroom flat with six circuits, and pricing by bedrooms doesn’t reflect that. If you want a clear estimate before I start, I need to know the number of circuits, which is usually written on the consumer unit door, or I can confirm it on arrival.

For more on how EICR pricing works, read my guide: Why I Price EICRs by Circuits, Not Bedrooms.

If you’re interested in what actually happens during the inspection itself, I’ve written a separate walkthrough: What Happens During an EICR.

Frankie Sewell
NICEIC Approved Contractor • YRLA Recognised Service Provider • Bright Sparks of York