Buying 1970s house - is rewire necessary?

Zzippy

Looking for some advice please.
We are sale agreed on a house built in the early 70s. The house was advertised as fully rewired, however our surveyor found the wiring was old twin-core. When we queried this with the estate agent we were told the house was partially rewired, then this became just a new fuseboard.

We haven't a clue about electrical/wiring work. Is it necessary to rewire and replace old cabling and sockets? Is the new fuseboard sufficient?
And if we did have to rewire - any ideas how much we'd be looking at for a 5-bed 2-story house - ballpark figure??

evosteo

Zzippy wrote: »

Looking for some advice please.
We are sale agreed on a house built in the early 70s. The house was advertised as fully rewired, however our surveyor found the wiring was old twin-core. When we queried this with the estate agent we were told the house was partially rewired, then this became just a new fuseboard.

We haven't a clue about electrical/wiring work. Is it necessary to rewire and replace old cabling and sockets? Is the new fuseboard sufficient?
And if we did have to rewire - any ideas how much we'd be looking at for a 5-bed 2-story house - ballpark figure??

Recommend - yes

Price range - your looking at around 3k upwards depending on spec, contractor and time frame.

Might be a good idea to get it done now before you start furnishing and decorating the house.

2011

Agree with the above.
Electrical regulations have changed a substantially and the average domestic electrical load has increased dramatically too since the 1970s.

I would recommend that you get three quotations from Registered Electrical Contractors.

A surveyor is not suitably qualified and estate agents will say anything to get a sale.

Zzippy

Thanks for replies folks.

That's the problem, we are only sale agreed and haven't got the keys yet to get a contractor in to assess what's required, hence just looking for a ballpark figure. Not knowing anything about electrics, I just needed to know why a rewire is necessary, as it's an unexpected item to budget for when we do move in. House is already decorated so chasing etc would be an added hassle...

Would the new fuseboard get us by for a while until we can afford a full rewire, or is it likely to cause problems if we have too many appliances going?

mikeyjames9

is there no paperwork necessary?

certs or inspection reports?

i would seem crazy to me at this stage(post CER and safe electric) if a property can change hands and the state of the wiring installation is unknown


Anything that an estate agent or a surveyor says can be taken with a 'pinch of salt' in this regard-they have no clue

Zzippy

mikeyjames9 wrote: »

is there no paperwork necessary?

certs or inspection reports?

i would seem crazy to me at this stage(post CER and safe electric) if a property can change hands and the state of the wiring installation is unknown

Perhaps someone else could answer that question, but as the house predates the regs I would imagine certs are not required?

crosstownk

If you do go ahead with the rewire check to see if you qualify for the Home Renovation Incentive.

Cerco

mikeyjames9 wrote: »

is there no paperwork necessary?

certs or inspection reports?

i would seem crazy to me at this stage(post CER and safe electric) if a property can change hands and the state of the wiring installation is unknown


Anything that an estate agent or a surveyor says can be taken with a 'pinch of salt' in this regard-they have no clue

The answer is no!
Purchasers rely on the surveyor/ engineers report to validate wiring and plumbing. There are no tests on either.
Saying that a qualified surveyor would have a pretty good knowledge of the building requirements and the condition of wiring and plumbing..
I would not concur that anything a surveyor says could be taken with a pinch of salt.
Was it not the surveyor who advised the client on the necessity to rewire?

Zzippy

Cerco wrote: »

The answer is no!
Purchasers rely on the surveyor/ engineers report to validate wiring and plumbing. There are no tests on either.
Saying that a qualified surveyor would have a pretty good knowledge of the building requirements and the induction of wiring and plumbing..
I would not concur that anything a surveyor says could be taken with a pinch of salt.
Was it not the surveyor who advised the client on the necessity to rewire?

Yes, it was the surveyor who picked up on the old wiring. I would have taken the EA blurb on it's merits and assumed the place was fully rewired.

So, any answers to this one?

Would the new fuseboard get us by for a while until we can afford a full rewire, or is it likely to cause problems if we have too many appliances going?

Cerco

Zzippy wrote: »

Yes, it was the surveyor who picked up on the old wiring. I would have taken the EA blurb on it's merits and assumed the place was fully rewired.

So, any answers to this one?

Estates agents have all kinds of get out clauses with regard to anything said .Even their brochures and web adverts do not form part of the contract for sale.
Nobody here can tell you if your wiring is safe without knowing all your requirements and doing an inspection.
I would get quotes , as recommended by 2011 above. They could advise you on the urgency for remedial work.

2011

+1

Impossible to asses without carrying out a survey.