PAT Testing in Bushey

PAT Testing in Bushey: what is different here

Hertsmere's draft rule: yearly testing in HMOs

There is no general law requiring landlords to PAT test, and HSE says there is no annual requirement. Bushey HMOs are about to be the exception. Hertsmere's draft amenity standards, dated July 2026, say that appliances provided by the landlord must be visually inspected at the start of each tenancy and must undergo portable appliance testing at least annually by a competent person, with certification provided.

Hertsmere's HMO page gives 25 November 2026 as the start date for the amended standards, for any application or variation lodged on or after it, and the draft says its standards apply to all HMOs, licensable or not. Read the final version when Hertsmere publishes it, but plan for a yearly test.

The licence condition that already applies

Every HMO licence carries conditions under the Housing Act 2004 requiring the holder to keep supplied electrical appliances and furniture safe, and to give the council a declaration about their safety when asked. In Hertsmere that covers each of the 203 licensed HMOs on the October 2026 register, 12 of them in Bushey.

Hertsmere's HMO register covers the whole town, Little Bushey and Merry Hill included, but only an HMO of five or more people from two or more households needs a licence there. A dated PAT register is the simplest evidence behind that declaration.

Big shared houses and staff accommodation

The largest Bushey-address HMOs on the register hold 17 and 18 tenants, one of them a hotel staff house off Elton Way. A household that size runs several kettles, toasters, microwaves and fridges, plus a washing machine and dryer, and appliances get moved between rooms. Hertsmere's standards try to reduce extension leads by setting six sockets in each bedroom, and Hertfordshire's HMO fire guide lists trailing leads on the escape route as a trip hazard to be removed.

When we test, we also note leads and adaptors in poor condition so you can deal with them.

Furnished family lets in an owner-occupied town

Across the four Bushey wards there were roughly 1,950 privately rented households in 2021, against nearly 8,000 households who owned their home. Private renting ran from 14.1% in Bushey Park to 20.2% in Bushey Heath, the ward around Hartsbourne Avenue. Many Bushey lets are family houses let furnished for a period, with the owner's own appliances left behind: lamps, a television, a fridge-freezer in the garage, a dehumidifier, garden tools in the shed.

None of this has to be tested by law outside an HMO, but a record helps if anything is later disputed, and a tenancy is a good point to check what you are handing over.

Cookers, microwaves and air fryers by headcount

Hertsmere's draft also ties kitchen equipment to the number of sharers. Up to five people need one full-size cooker with four rings, an oven and a grill, plus microwaves or air fryers as required; six or seven need a cooker and a combination microwave oven; eight to ten need two full-size cookers. An air fryer is allowed but does not count as a cooker.

Every microwave, air fryer, kettle and toaster the landlord supplies to meet those numbers is a portable appliance on the yearly list, and so is a washing machine or washer-dryer if one is provided. In a large Bushey house share, that list can run past thirty items before lamps and heaters are counted.

What we leave behind in a Bushey property

Each item gets a pass or fail label and a line on the asset register, listed by room and outbuilding, which makes it quick to show a Hertsmere officer what has been checked. Failed items are taken out of use and listed, with the reason. We do not test items the tenant owns, but we can list anything we were asked to leave out.

Official sources

• Hertsmere Borough Council: draft amenity standards for HMOs 2026 (no additional licensing scheme)
• Hertsmere Borough Council: multiple occupancy homes (HMO licensing and fees)
• Hertsmere Borough Council: register of licensed HMOs at 7 October 2026
• legislation.gov.uk: Housing Act 2004, Schedule 4 (licence conditions)
• HSE: portable appliance testing FAQs
• Hertfordshire councils and Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service: guide to fire safety in HMOs
• ONS Census 2021 via Nomis: tenure, Bushey wards (TS054)

Last reviewed October 2026 by EliteShires Property Services.