PAT Testing in Hendon

PAT Testing in Hendon: what is different here

Barnet's licence schedule: two years and four years

Under Schedule 4 of the Housing Act 2004, every HMO licence in England carries a condition that the holder keeps the electrical appliances they supply in a safe condition and gives the council a declaration of their safety on demand. Barnet's standard conditions go into more detail. Appliances the licence holder provides should be inspected regularly as part of a maintenance programme, and a portable appliance test should be carried out every four years for fridges, washing machines and electric fires, and every two years for portable equipment.

The inspections must be done by a suitably qualified and competent person, the council must be told of any remedial work, and the declaration is due within 14 days of a written request, with copies made available to the occupants.

Student houses near Middlesex University

Barnet's appraisal for The Burroughs notes that the road is a busy route for students going to and from the Middlesex University campus further north. The shared houses around it tend to be furnished with a landlord-supplied fridge freezer, washing machine, microwave, kettle, toaster, vacuum cleaner and sometimes a lamp and desk fan in each room.

Two-year items such as kettles and toasters wear out fastest in a house of five sharers, so we check cables and plugs for damage and note anything that should simply be replaced. Tenants' own items, such as laptops and hair straighteners, are not the landlord's to test unless you choose to include them.

Furnished flats in split houses and new blocks

Private renting accounted for 47.2% of Hendon ward households at the 2021 Census and 43.1% in West Hendon, against 32.7% for Barnet as a whole. Hendon ward covers Hendon Central, Church End and Brent Street, and many of its lets are furnished flats for young professionals. A one-bedroom flat in a converted house might have only six or eight supplied appliances, which makes a test at each change of tenant quick and sensible even where no licence applies.

In the newer West Hendon blocks, integrated ovens, hobs and extractor fans are part of the fixed wiring and are covered by the EICR rather than a portable appliance test.

Electric heaters and the four-year items

At the 2021 Census, 18.1% of West Hendon households and 13.9% in Hendon ward heated their homes with electricity alone. In older flats that sometimes means landlord-supplied plug-in oil-filled radiators or fan heaters to top up storage heaters, and Barnet's licence schedule lists electric fires with fridges and washing machines in the four-year group.

Plug-in heaters run hot for hours, so their flexes and plugs are worth a visual check at every inspection between tests. We record each heater by location so the register shows which room it belongs to.

What you get and how to use it

Each tested item gets a pass or fail label with the date, and the register lists the appliance, its location and the result. Failed items are taken out of use there and then, with your agreement. Keep the register with the licence paperwork: Barnet's conditions also require regular property inspections at least every six months, and the register gives the inspector a simple checklist for spotting new appliances that have appeared since the last test.

Official sources

• Barnet HMO licence conditions: two and four-year PAT schedule, 14-day declaration
• Housing Act 2004 Sch 4: appliance safety condition on every licence
• HSE: no general legal requirement for PAT
• Students using The Burroughs to reach the Middlesex University campus
• Census 2021 private renting in Hendon and West Hendon
• Census 2021 electric-only heating in Hendon and West Hendon

Last reviewed October 2026 by EliteShires Property Services.