Fires from dodgy wiring at a 16-year high – it’s no longer the chip pan we need to worry about!
English households are improving their fire safety across the board, apart from one area according to new statistics with faulty electric supply fires hitting a 16-year peak according to new data analysed by Fusion Electrical.
The Greater Manchester based electrical contractors has delved into Home Office and Freedom of Information request data, finding that fires caused by wiring, cabling, plugs and mains installation rose to 2,575 in the year ending March 2026, the highest annual figure in the entire published series from the Home Office and a 13% rise in the last five years.
That works out at roughly seven house fires caused by electrical installations each day in England, while over the same period fires from faulty appliances, something we often worry about actually fell slightly during the period (-2%).
Almost every other cause is falling too, from chip pan fires (from 1,508 to 964, a 36% drop) to misuse of equipment and appliances (a 12% drop), while deliberate fires fell 13%, leading to the number of fires in England dropping on the whole 3.1%.
James Harrison, Managing Director at Fusion Electrical said: “Everything the public has been told to worry about down the years, and as a result we’re more conscious of, is around the stuff we can see – chargers, batteries, air fryers.
“Those figures have barely moved, but the rise of fires based on what you can’t see is startling. Fixed wiring is the only major system in the home that most people will never inspect, never test and never really think about until something goes wrong.”
“Maintenance is the core problem here, and it is fixable. An Electrical Installation Condition Report is a formal check that looks at the wiring itself rather than the appliances plugged into it, and it costs a fraction of what people tend to assume.”
From 2020 private landlords in England are required to obtain an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) every five years, although that was extended to social landlords in 2025. But it doesn’t account for the 16.2 million homes in England that are owner occupied, which carry no such requirement. That’s 65% of homes!
James added: “The government’s decision to make EICRs compulsory for private and social landlords is of course a welcome move, but that still doesn’t protect almost two thirds of homes in England.
“We often check homes that haven’t had their wiring checked in decades, and it is a real concern. In fact, the rising number of fires being reported by the Home Office tells us that the concern is real. It’s important that people start taking out EICRs every five years and we’d encourage the government to extend the legalities to all homes across the country.
“You wouldn’t drive your car without an MOT and we’re always conscious to get our boiler serviced, so why are we not considering our wiring, which runs through every room of every house?”
