No English regulation tells a private landlord to PAT test. That surprises people who have been told otherwise by a letting agent, but it is true: nothing in the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 or anywhere else names portable appliance testing as a compulsory job for an ordinary assured shorthold tenancy. HMO licensing is where that changes, because a licence is a legal instrument with conditions attached, and one of those conditions is about the appliances you supply.
The condition every licensed HMO in Derbyshire carries
Schedule 4 of the Housing Act 2004 lists the mandatory conditions that a licence under Part 2 or Part 3 must include. A council has no discretion here. Among them is a condition requiring the licence holder "to keep electrical appliances and furniture made available by him in the house in a safe condition", together with a condition to supply the authority, on demand, with a declaration as to the safety of those appliances and furniture. For houses in England, Schedule 4 also requires every electrical installation in the house to be in proper working order and safe for continued use, with a declaration on that available on demand too.
Because those words come from statute rather than local policy, they sit in the licence wherever the property is. Chesterfield Borough Council, North East Derbyshire District Council, Bolsover, Derbyshire Dales, High Peak and Amber Valley all issue mandatory HMO licences under the same Schedule 4 framework, so the appliance safety condition and the declaration condition apply right across our Chesterfield and north Derbyshire patch.
Why the declaration is the part that bites
Keeping appliances safe is a duty you can argue you have discharged by looking after the property well. Signing a declaration to a licensing officer is different, because you are putting your name to a factual statement about a fridge freezer, three microwaves and a tumble dryer you may not have touched in two years. A written test register, listing every appliance by room with a pass or fail against each one, is the straightforward way to stand behind that signature.
Councils know this, which is why several of them name the test outright in their published conditions. Redbridge Council, for example, heads the relevant condition "Portable Appliance Testing (PAT) and furniture safety" and gives the licence holder 21 days from a written demand to produce the declaration. Hartlepool Borough Council goes further in its guidance notes, recommending that appliances are "inspected for defects at least every two years or at the start of any new occupancy" and that the work is done by someone competent with testing equipment, such as a holder of City & Guilds 2377. Neither council is in Derbyshire, but both show what an experienced licensing officer expects the same statutory condition to look like in practice.
What genuinely varies between local authorities
The mandatory conditions are fixed, and everything beyond them is discretionary under section 67 of the Housing Act 2004. Some councils publish a long schedule of local conditions covering management arrangements, fire risk assessments and record keeping, while others keep the schedule short and lean on the document list at application stage. North East Derbyshire tells applicants they will need to supply documents including a current gas safety certificate and an electrical installation condition report when the licence is assessed.
So read the conditions schedule attached to your own licence rather than a generic checklist, and ask the licensing team what they want to see for appliances before your inspection rather than after. A test register produced on the day is a five minute conversation, while a promise to send something later starts a compliance file.
Where tenants' own kit sits
The licence condition covers appliances made available by you. A student's own air fryer, a second-hand kettle bought from a Chesterfield charity shop and a phone charger from a market stall are outside it. They are still inside your fire risk assessment, and in a shared kitchen they are usually the highest risk items in the building. Most landlords we work with in licensed HMOs and shared houses ask us to test tenant-owned equipment at the same visit where tenants are happy for us to, partly because it costs nothing extra within the same visit length and partly because a labelled kettle is easier to defend than an unlabelled one.
Keep the two groups separate in the paperwork. Our registers show landlord-supplied items as one list, which is the list your declaration refers to, and tenant items as another, which matters if an officer asks who owns the multi-way adaptor behind the sofa.
Intervals, and who decides them
No law sets a PAT interval for HMOs. The IET Code of Practice for In-Service Inspection and Testing of Electrical Equipment, now in its 5th edition, works on risk and environment, so the duty holder sets the interval and reviews it against what the results show. For a shared house with a rotating group of tenants, a communal kitchen and appliances that get moved and unplugged constantly, an annual visit is what we recommend. A lightly used furnished flat with four items in it is a different case, where a two-year cycle plus a check at each change of tenancy can be defensible.
If an appliance fails, take it out of service and record that you did. A register showing three failures and three removals is stronger evidence of a working system than one showing nothing has ever gone wrong.
The cost of getting it wrong, and of getting it right
Breaching a licence condition is an offence under the Housing Act 2004. The government's HMO licensing guidance states that a licence holder convicted of such an offence is liable to an unlimited fine, and that the local housing authority can impose a financial penalty of up to £30,000 as an alternative to prosecution. Penalty provisions are being amended by the Renters' Rights Act 2025, so check the current maximum with your council rather than relying on an old figure.
Against that, a typical four to six bed licensed HMO is an hour's work. Our visits are priced by length rather than by item, starting at £50 for up to an hour, with half days from £125 and full days from £250 when we are working through several properties in one run around Chesterfield, Dronfield or Clay Cross. You get a register listing every appliance by room, labels on each item and a certificate you can hand to the licensing team. If you want the detail of how the testing itself works, that is on the main service page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is PAT testing a condition of an HMO licence in Chesterfield?
Chesterfield Borough Council, like every council in England, must include the mandatory conditions in Schedule 4 of the Housing Act 2004 in each HMO licence it issues. Those conditions require the licence holder to keep electrical appliances and furniture they have supplied in a safe condition, and to give the council a declaration as to their safety on demand. The wording does not use the phrase PAT testing, but a dated test register is the normal way landlords evidence it. Some councils elsewhere label the same condition Portable Appliance Testing outright.
How often should a licensed HMO be PAT tested?
No law sets a fixed interval. The IET Code of Practice for In-Service Inspection and Testing of Electrical Equipment, 5th edition, uses risk-based intervals chosen and reviewed by the duty holder. For a shared house with changing tenants, a communal kitchen and appliances that are constantly moved, annual testing is the practical standard and the interval most licensing officers expect. A lightly furnished flat with a handful of items can often be justified on a two-year cycle with a check at each change of tenancy.
What happens if I cannot produce the appliance safety declaration when the council asks?
Failing to comply with an HMO licence condition is an offence under the Housing Act 2004. The government's HMO licensing guidance states that a licence holder convicted of such an offence is liable to an unlimited fine, and that the council can impose a financial penalty of up to £30,000 as an alternative to prosecution. Penalty levels are being amended by the Renters' Rights Act 2025, so check the current maximum with your local authority. Repeated breaches can also affect whether you are treated as a fit and proper person at renewal.
Do I have to PAT test appliances my HMO tenants brought themselves?
The licence condition only covers appliances and furniture made available by the licence holder, so a tenant's own kettle or air fryer falls outside it. Those items still form part of the fire risk in a shared kitchen, and they are often the oldest and most damaged equipment in the building. Many landlords have tenant-owned items tested at the same visit where tenants agree, and keep them on a separate list from the landlord-supplied register the declaration refers to.
Does an EICR cover the appliances in my HMO?
No. An Electrical Installation Condition Report covers the fixed wiring, sockets, consumer unit and light fittings, and is required every five years for private tenancies under the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020. Anything that plugs into a socket, such as a fridge freezer, washing machine, microwave or extension lead, is outside the EICR and sits under the appliance safety condition in your HMO licence instead. Licensed HMOs need both records.