What the new RSH Electrical Safety TSM Means for Social Landlords

By Karl Linder · 11 June 2026

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

On 11 June 2026, the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) finalised its new Tenant Satisfaction Measure (TSM) for electrical safety checks. All large social landlords in England with more than 1,000 homes must now publish their electrical safety TSM results for the first time, covering the 2026/27 reporting year. Smaller landlords follow from reporting years ending 31 March 2027.

This is not a new legal duty. The obligation to carry out periodic electrical safety inspections has been in place since November 2025. What the TSM does is make compliance performance publicly visible, sitting alongside the existing building safety TSMs covering fire, gas, asbestos, water, and lift safety. Landlords who are behind on their programmes are now operating with a visible deficit.

“The new TSM does not change landlords’ duties in meeting legal requirements relating to electrical safety. They should have been doing this anyway.”
Will Perry, Director of Strategy, RSH

What the Law Requires

From 1 November 2025, social landlords became subject to the same mandatory electrical safety standards that have applied to private landlords since 2020. The core obligations are:

• All electrical installations must be inspected and tested at least every five years by a qualified person, with an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) issued to tenants within 28 days.
• Where an EICR identifies C1 (danger present), C2 (potential danger), or FI (further investigation) codes, remedial works must be completed within 28 days.
• PAT testing of all electrical equipment provided under the tenancy, including cookers, fridges, and washing machines, is now mandatory.
• For existing tenancies, transitional provisions allow until 1 November 2026 to complete the initial round of inspections. That is five months away and the window is narrowing.

Why the TSM Raises the Stakes

The TSM framework is a public accountability mechanism. The consultation that preceded its finalisation saw 87% of respondents agree it would provide an appropriate measure of landlord performance. Scores will be visible to tenants, scrutiny panels, and the RSH simultaneously, and poor results will be difficult to explain away.

Enforcement has also been strengthened. From November 2025, the maximum civil penalty for breaching the electrical safety regulations rose from £30,000 to £40,000. Local authorities have new powers to serve remedial notices on social landlords, with no cap on the number of properties that can be cited.

The Practical Challenge

For most landlords, the issue is not awareness but delivery at scale. Three problems come up consistently: gaps in EICR records meaning landlords do not have a clear picture of where they stand; constrained contractor capacity following the simultaneous extension of requirements across the whole social rented sector; and data infrastructure that is not yet ready to support accurate TSM reporting by 31 March 2027.

The starting point is straightforward. Landlords need to map their portfolio against current EICR records, identify where inspections are overdue or have never been carried out, and schedule a phased programme prioritised by risk and installation age.

How ARK Can Help

ARK Consultancy works with social landlords at precisely the point where regulatory pressure and operational capacity come into conflict. We are an asset management and technical consultancy. Our work supports landlords in building the framework, data, and processes needed to meet their obligations and to evidence compliance under the new TSM regime.
Our support includes:

• Electrical safety compliance audits, reviewing EICR records against stock data to identify coverage gaps, overdue inspections, and outstanding remedial actions.
• Stock condition survey programmes integrating electrical hazard identification in line with HHSRS Category 1 and 2 assessment.
• Asset management strategy development embedding electrical safety alongside the full suite of RSH building safety TSMs.
• TSM reporting framework development, and data validation, ensuring data collection and reporting processes are ready for the 2026/27 submission and are robust.

We have delivered compliance assurance and asset management strategy work for a range of registered providers and local authority housing teams, with direct experience of the operational challenges electrical compliance programmes present at scale.

The question is not whether electrical compliance matters. It always has. The question is whether you can evidence it to support your TSM submission.

To discuss how ARK can support your electrical compliance programme, please Get in touch

Karl Linder, Assistant Director, ARK Consultancy Limited