PAT Testing in Colindale

PAT Testing in Colindale: what is different here

Barnet's licence conditions set the intervals

For a flat let to one household, PAT testing is good practice rather than law, and nothing makes it annual. Shared flats are treated differently. Under Schedule 4 of the Housing Act 2004, every HMO or selective licence carries a condition about the safety of appliances and furniture the landlord supplies, including a declaration to the council when asked. Barnet adds a timetable. In its 2022 conditions for HMO licences, fridges, washing machines and electric fires are due a test at four-year intervals, and anything portable, such as a kettle, lamp or vacuum, at two-year intervals, alongside routine inspection by the landlord.

Those conditions also expect a competent tester, ask landlords to tell Barnet about any remedial work an inspection finds, and allow 14 days to produce the declaration after a written request; tenants are entitled to see a copy. The borough-wide additional scheme covers flats shared by three or more people from two or more households and runs until 27 October 2027.

What a furnished Colindale flat usually contains

Colindale's new-build flats, such as those at Beaufort Park and Colindale Gardens, come with integrated kitchens, so the landlord's appliance list usually starts there: a washer-dryer, a fridge-freezer, a dishwasher, an oven and a hob. Ovens and hobs wired into a fused connection unit are part of the fixed installation and belong to the EICR, not the PAT register. Integrated machines that plug into a socket behind a unit are tested where we can reach the plug safely without taking the kitchen apart, and we note any we cannot reach.

On top of that, a furnished let tends to add a kettle, toaster, microwave, vacuum cleaner, lamps, a television and extension leads. We test each item you supply, label it with the date and the result, and list it on the register so the next check, and any query from Barnet, starts from a known inventory.

Sharers, room lets and fast turnover

Private renting is the largest tenure in Colindale South, at 43.5% of households in 2021, and many flats are let to sharers. In a shared flat, each tenant often brings their own kettle, heater or games console. Those are not your appliances and are not on your register, but an overloaded adaptor feeding them is something we note. The safest time to test is between tenancies, when the flat is empty, every supplied item is present and nothing is in daily use.

Items we flag most in new-build NW9 flats

Colindale's water is very hard, at 333 mg/l in Affinity Water's 2025 report for the Colindale/Kingsbury zone, so kettles and coffee machines scale up quickly. Scaled elements and cracked kettle bases are a regular fail. Extension leads bought as cheap replacements, daisy-chained adaptors behind wall-mounted TVs and leads crushed by furniture in compact layouts are the other common findings. We replace a failed plug or fuse on the spot where that fixes the fault, and list anything that should be withdrawn.

Furniture is in the same declaration

Barnet's declaration covers furniture as well as appliances. Its HMO conditions say soft furnishings supplied by the licence holder must meet the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988, and that furniture should be visually checked at intervals. In a furnished Colindale flat, that means the sofa, armchairs, mattresses and headboards. While we work through the appliances we note any item missing its permanent fire label, so you can replace it before signing a declaration. We do not test or certify furniture, but a note listing what was seen, room by room, sits well alongside the appliance register.

The council's HMO licensing team is based at 2 Bristol Avenue, on the edge of Grahame Park, according to the contact details printed in those conditions. A request for a declaration can arrive at short notice, and a dated register with retest dates set by Barnet's two-year and four-year categories, rather than one date for everything, answers it in a single email.

If selective licensing comes to Colindale

The NRLA reported that Barnet consulted on selective licensing for ten wards, including Colindale North and Colindale South, and we found no decision as of October 2026. If a scheme is adopted, every licence it issues would carry the same mandatory condition about supplied appliances and the declaration on demand, so a flat let to a single household would need a way to show its appliances are safe.

A dated register is the easiest way to do that. Barnet's 2022 conditions document already contains a draft set of selective licence conditions, but a new scheme could set different terms, so check with Barnet.

Official sources

• Barnet licence conditions, July 2022 (archived)
• Housing Act 2004, Schedule 4
• HSE PAT FAQ
• Barnet HMO licensing page
• NRLA licensing update, September 2026
• Census 2021 tenure, Colindale wards (Nomis)
• Affinity Water AF057 report, 2025

Last reviewed October 2026 by EliteShires Property Services.