HMO Portfolio EICR Programme in Edinburgh

The Brief

A letting agent in Edinburgh managed a portfolio of five HMOs whose EICR renewal dates had drifted apart over previous years. Five separate suppliers had tested them on five different anniversaries, the reports were inconsistent in coding and format, and the agent's compliance team was spending disproportionate time chasing reminders. The brief was simple: roll the five properties onto a single compliance cadence with one supplier, one reporting format, and a clear picture of cross-portfolio remedial themes.

What We Did

• Scoping pass at the desk: reviewed the five most recent reports to understand each property's electrical layout, previous coding history, and the access patterns the agent's tenants were used to. Identified the two HMOs most overdue and prioritised them in the schedule.
• Test programme across two months: ran the five EICRs in a sequence that matched the agent's existing renewal dates, so insurance and compliance windows were not disrupted. Each test took one day on-site; we worked around tenant rhythms (morning slots in some, evening in others).
• Consistent coding philosophy: the same engineer led every inspection. The result is that "a C2 in HMO 3" means the same thing as "a C2 in HMO 5", which a five-supplier history could not deliver.
• Five insurer-ready PDFs, one master summary: each property got its own report on the standard NICEIC template, plus a one-page master summary cross-referencing themes (older RCD models in three of the five, missing supplementary bonding in two) so the agent's compliance team could prioritise remedials at portfolio level rather than property by property.
• Remedial programme planned, not bundled: quoted the remedials separately by property, with an option to commission them as a single portfolio package. The agent took the package, which let us complete all the cross-property themed work inside a fortnight.

The Result

Five HMOs onto a single compliance cadence, with a portfolio-level view the agent never had before. Future renewals are now a single call to one supplier rather than five reminders to chase. The themed remedials uncovered a missing-bond pattern across two HMOs that previous suppliers had missed entirely; resolving it removed a recurring C2 that had been costing the agent attention every year.

Programme Duration: Two months from initial scope to final report; remedials completed inside two weeks of the last EICR.

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