PAT Testing in Northolt

PAT Testing in Northolt: what is different here

Why Ealing's licences turn PAT into paperwork

Nationally, the Health and Safety Executive says there is no legal requirement to PAT test, and certainly not every year. Licensing changes the picture. The Housing Act 2004 makes every selective and HMO licence include a condition on the safety of appliances the landlord supplies, with a declaration to the council on demand.

Ealing's version for Northolt's selective licences goes a step further and asks for an electrical appliance test report, sent within seven days of a request. A dated report from a test is the simplest way to answer that request without a scramble.

In a Northolt HMO, Ealing says annually

Ealing's HMO standards, revised in April 2025, are explicit: portable appliance testing must be carried out annually and a certificate obtained, and PAT appears in the table of certificates required every year alongside the gas, fire alarm and emergency lighting checks. For appliances less than a year old the standards say to keep the receipts instead, and they single out vacuum cleaners as the item people forget. If you let a Northolt house to three or more sharers, plan on a yearly test and a register that lists every item by room.

What the inspector looks at besides the labels

Ealing's inspection checklist for HMOs asks if the supplied appliances have been checked, but it also asks if every white good is plugged into its own dedicated socket. Extension leads daisy-chained behind a fridge freezer and a washing machine are a common finding in shared kitchens, and the standards say extra sockets should be added where overloading is found. During a PAT visit we note where leads are doing a socket's job, so you can add the sockets before the council's inspection rather than after it.

Selective-licence lets: test at the start of each tenancy

For a family let anywhere in Northolt, Ealing's selective conditions do not set an interval. The practical routine is a test when a tenancy begins and when you add or replace an appliance, with the dated report kept with your licence papers. A furnished let has more to test than an unfurnished one: a kettle, toaster, microwave, vacuum, lamps and a portable heater can easily outnumber the white goods.

Ex-council flats you let out, and new rules on planning

If you own a flat on a Northolt estate and let it, the council is still your landlord under the lease and holds you responsible for your tenant's conduct and for keeping the inside of the flat in repair. Ealing's homeowners' handbook asks leaseholders to take care with lithium batteries in e-bikes and e-scooters, now a leading cause of fires. Those belong to the tenant and are not part of a landlord PAT test, but it is worth saying in the tenancy pack where they should be charged.

Separately, anyone planning to turn a Northolt house into a shared one has needed planning permission for that change since Ealing's Article 4 direction took effect on 14 November 2025, so settle that before buying furniture.

What the visit covers

We test the appliances you supply, label each one, and give you a register listing the item, its location and the result. Anything that fails is taken out of use on the day and you are told what it is. Tenant-owned items are not tested and not your responsibility. Where an EICR is also due, our electrician can do both in one visit, which keeps the dates on your Northolt licence file in step.

Official sources

• HSE: portable appliance testing FAQs
• legislation.gov.uk: Housing Act 2004, Schedule 4 (conditions every licence must include)
• Ealing Council: selective licence conditions
• Ealing Council: HMO Standards, April 2025 (fire doors, alarms, sockets, splashbacks, PAT, certificate table)
• Ealing Council: Homeowners' handbook for council leaseholders, October 2025 (repair responsibilities, fire doors, alterations, letting)
• Ealing Council: Article 4 direction removing C3 to C4 HMO permitted development, confirmed 11 July 2025, in force 14 November 2025

Last reviewed October 2026 by EliteShires Property Services.