The Regulator of Social Housing has finalised a new Tenant Satisfaction Measure for electrical safety checks, adding electrical safety to the set of building safety performance measures that registered social housing providers must report.
The change applies directly to registered providers of social housing in England, not ordinary private landlords. Even so, it is a useful signal for the wider rented sector because it shows how electrical safety is being pulled further into routine performance reporting, tenant transparency and regulator scrutiny.
For private landlords, the practical takeaway is not that this creates a new private rented sector reporting duty. It does not. The point is that electrical safety is increasingly being treated as a visible management issue, rather than a background compliance task that only matters when something goes wrong.
What has changed?
The new measure is called BS06 Electrical safety checks. According to the regulator, it comes into effect from 11 June 2026. Large social housing landlords in England, meaning those with more than 1,000 homes, will need to publish the measure for the first time for the 2026/27 reporting year.
Small registered providers must publish it for reporting years ending 31 March 2027 onwards. The regulator says the first large-landlord results will therefore be based on the position at 31 March 2027.
The existing Tenant Satisfaction Measures already cover areas such as gas safety checks, fire safety checks, asbestos safety checks, water safety checks and lift safety checks. Electrical safety had been left out when the TSM framework was first introduced because separate government work was still under way. The regulator has now updated the technical requirements to include the electrical safety measure.
The regulator is also clear that the new measure does not change landlords’ underlying legal duties. Its purpose is to make performance more consistent and transparent for tenants and for the regulator.
Why private landlords should still pay attention
Many Here4 Landlords readers will not be registered social housing providers. A small portfolio landlord with one or two assured shorthold tenancies is not suddenly being asked to publish annual TSM data because of this announcement.
However, the direction of travel matters. Across the rented sector, safety obligations are becoming more formal, more auditable and more dependent on clear records. That same pattern can be seen in areas such as damp and mould, energy efficiency, building product safety and the wider move towards stronger tenant protections.
For landlords, electrical safety is already a practical management issue. The usual questions are simple but important: when was the last electrical inspection carried out, where is the certificate, what remedial work was identified, when was it completed, and can the landlord show the timeline if challenged?
Those records matter because electrical safety is rarely judged only by whether a property looks fine on a viewing. It depends on inspection evidence, certificates, follow-up work, contractor competence and the landlord’s ability to show that the property was being managed responsibly.
That is also why this change is worth reading alongside wider compliance themes. For example, landlords reviewing safety records may also find it useful to revisit Here4 Landlords’ earlier coverage of damp and mould guidance and building product safety changes. The subjects are different, but the lesson is similar: good property management increasingly depends on evidence as well as action.
What to check in your own records
Private landlords should avoid reading a social housing reporting change as direct legal advice for their own circumstances. Requirements can differ by tenure, nation, property type and tenancy arrangement. Where there is uncertainty, landlords should check official guidance or take professional advice.
As an editorial prompt, though, the announcement is a good reason to look again at basic electrical safety administration. Landlords may want to confirm that inspection dates are recorded in one place, certificates are easy to retrieve, remedial works have not been left open, and agents or contractors know who is responsible for follow-up.
It is also worth checking communal areas where relevant. The regulator’s announcement notes that the new social housing measure has been designed to sit alongside other building safety measures and covers statutory obligations both inside homes and in communal areas. For landlords with converted buildings, blocks, HMOs or shared spaces, communal-area responsibilities can be an easy place for paperwork to become fragmented.
The best outcome is not a thicker file for its own sake. It is a clearer chain of evidence showing what was inspected, what was found, what was fixed, and when the next review is due.
The bigger picture
The immediate rule change is narrow: a new reporting measure for registered social housing providers in England. The wider message is broader. Electrical safety is becoming part of the same performance conversation as gas, fire, asbestos, water and lift safety.
For landlords outside the social sector, that is a reminder to treat electrical safety as a live management process, not a document to rediscover at renewal time. A calm review now can help avoid rushed decisions later, especially where a managing agent, contractor or joint owner also holds part of the paperwork.
Source: Regulator of Social Housing announcement on GOV.UK. The updated technical requirements are also available on GOV.UK.
