Keeping you safe in your home is a top priority for us. If you're a shared owner or leaseholder, you are responsible for electrical tests within your own home but we’re responsible for repairing and maintaining any communal installations – such as if you live in a block of flats.
Your responsibilities include the following requirements around electrical safety to make sure that you and your neighbours are kept safe.
- Arranging regular electrical safety tests (at least every ten years) within your own home – if you live in a block, we will arrange these for any communal areas.
- Asking us for permission to carry out alterations, additions and improvements to your home that may affect the electrics.
- If we agree to allow you to make changes to your electrics, we will need a copy of the certification from the electrician, who must be a member of a recognised competency scheme such as the NICEIC, ECA or NAPIT.
- Making sure a qualified electrical engineer carries out any other electrical work.
- Plug‑in solar panels (also known as plug‑and‑play systems) are currently not permitted for safety reasons.
Find out more about your other responsibilities as a shared owner or leaseholder.
If you have any concern about your electrical safety, please contact us.
Electrical safety tips
If you have an electrical supply, it's really important you know where and how to turn this off in an emergency. (In a house, this is usually located on the ground floor in the hallway, under the stairs or in a kitchen cupboard and normally very close to the electric meter.)
To help keep you, your family and neighbours safe, please follow this safety advice.
We’ve recently received questions from customers about using plug‑in solar panels (sometimes called “plug‑and‑play” systems). At the moment, we’re not able to approve these for use in any of our homes.
We’ve made this decision because plug‑in solar systems can create safety risks. These units are designed to plug into a standard socket, but doing so can affect how important electrical safety devices, such as Residual Current Devices (RCDs), work. RCDs help protect people from electric shocks and reduce the risk of electrical fires, so it’s essential nothing interferes with their operation.
Plug‑in systems also aren’t always designed to work safely with existing household wiring. This makes it difficult to confirm whether an installation meets the required safety standards or who would be responsible for maintaining it.
Because of these concerns, and to keep residents, staff and homes safe, we’re not permitting plug‑in solar panels at this time.
As this technology develops and official guidance becomes clearer, we’ll continue to review our position. We’ll keep customers updated if anything changes in the future.
- Faulty appliances are a common cause of fires in the home - so check your electrical appliances to make sure there’s no evidence of faults, loose or exposed wires.
- Where possible, turn off and unplug any unused appliances.
- Avoid running appliances like washing machines, tumble dryers or dishwashers overnight or when you’re out (as you won’t be around to spot any problems). Clean lint from tumble dryers.
- Take care in the kitchen - keep electrical appliances and leads away from water.
- Don’t use the top of the microwave for extra storage.
- Never take mains-powered electrical items into the bathroom.
- Make sure electrical appliances have a British or European safety mark when you buy them and only buy from reputable places.
- Replace your smoke alarms if they’re nearing the end of their life expectancy.
- Test your carbon monoxide detectors and change them if they are coming towards the end of their life expectancy.
- Check any fixed electrical storage, convector and fan heaters for homes which rely on this source of heating.
You can register your domestic appliances 
to be the first to find out if any safety issues or recalls affect you. It's easy to do and free.
- Don't overload sockets or daisy chain sockets together (where you plug multiple extensions into each other) – this is extremely dangerous. Electrical Safety First has an online ‘socket calculator’ to help you check that yours are safe: https://www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/guidance/safety-around-the-home/overloading-sockets/
- Check that visible cables and leads are in good condition.
- Never trail cables under carpets or rugs.
- Make sure that plugs and sockets aren’t damaged.
- Check that you aren’t storing combustible materials around your fuse box, electricity meter or electrical intake.
- Check that all the hard wiring (the cabling you can’t see, hidden in the fabric of your home), switches, sockets and fittings aren’t damaged or in need of replacement.
- Regularly check the consumer unit (fusebox).
- Check that your light fittings aren’t visibly damaged and that downlighters are in good working condition.
- Turn off lights when you’re not in rooms – this is safer and helps saves energy too.
- Check your fire and carbon monoxide (CO) detectors at least monthly.
- Don't cover chargers or battery packs when you’re charging as this could let them overheat.
- Don't over-charge batteries.
- Cheap or faulty phone chargers have also caused several fires in Sovereign homes so only buy products from reputable places.
(Also see advice about e-bikes and e-scooters and the risks with Lithium-ion batteries used to charge these.)
- Store and charge these safely: don't store or charge them in communal areas of a block (except if there’s a dedicated area for mobility scooters).
- Store these somewhere cool, rather than in a very hot or cold area.
- Follow the manufacturer's instructions when you charge the battery and don't leave this charging constantly, overnight or unattended.
- Make sure batteries are not damaged and let them cool down before you recharge them.
The latest government research on Lithium-ion batteries also suggests there is a higher risk if these are overcharged, overheated or mechanically damaged. There is also more risk with poor quality conversion kits or if separate batteries or chargers are bought and used together as these may not be compatible.