Property headlines often focus on square footage, garden size, or EPC ratings, but one silent factor affects both value and buyer peace of mind, the quality of a home’s electrical work. With Britain’s housing market cooling, sellers need every edge. Training provider Elec Training says a new wave of well-certified electricians can deliver it.
A fresh Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) signed by a Gold-Card electrician can add up to three per cent to a home’s sale price, new data shared with Sold Magazine reveal, yet trained installers remain in short supply.
Why the skills gap hurts sellers
The Construction Industry Training Board estimates the UK needs about 14,500 extra electricians each year until 2028 to wire heat pumps and EV chargers. Fewer qualified sparkies means longer wait times for safety checks, causing some sales to stall at survey stage.
“Buyers walk away fast when a survey flags outdated fuse boards,” says Professor Lena Brooks, King’s College London. “A clean certificate removes a big unknown.”
Nationwide Building Society analysed 12,000 sales in 2024, homes with a recent EICR and no remedial notes sold 19 days faster on average than similar houses without one. For chains already nervy over mortgage rates, that speed is gold.
How Elec Training fills the gap
Based in Birmingham, Elec Training runs a ten-week classroom boot camp followed by paid site placement. Students learn safe isolation, consumer-unit upgrades, and EV-charger wiring, finishing with City & Guilds Level 2, 2365-02, 2365-03 diploma, 18th edition this then leads onto their nvq level 3 electrical fast track.
A final AM2 test unlocks the Electrotechnical Certification Scheme Gold Card, the badge lenders and insurers recognise.
Course fees sit at £8,500 including VAT. Graduates reach site wages of £30,000 within two years, according to the provider’s audit.
Dr Samuel Grant, University of Leeds, notes, “Rapid courses like this remove downtime that used to block mid-career switchers.”
Sara Khan, 29, once sold merchandise at comic-cons. She joined Elec Training in 2022, passed all modules in 18 months, and now works for a nationwide estate-agency chain, inspecting homes before listings go live. “I issue clean reports that bump sale prices,” she says. Estate agents pay her day rate of £220, sellers like the quicker deals, everyone wins.
Elec Training, which offers electrician courses Birmingham logged an impressive 97 percent pass rates on 18th Edition exams last quarter.
“Their grad found two hidden splice boxes, saved my buyer a headache,” says Mark Deane, branch manager at GreenRoof Estates.
Why landlords join the queue
Since April 2021, private rentals in England need an EICR every five years. Non-compliance can trigger fines up to £30,000. Landlords who delay bookings risk void periods. Some now sponsor apprentices through Elec Training to keep checks in house, cutting third-party fees.
The market ripple
Upgrades ripple beyond safety. Modern breaker panels and properly installed EV charge points raise EPC scores, nudging homes into cheaper mortgage brackets.
Dr Nicole Turner, University of Glasgow, points out, “Green compliance and electrical safety often overlap, one qualified electrician can tick both boxes in a single visit,” she says.
How to act now
- Home sellers, book an EICR before listing, ask for a Gold-Card number.
- Career-switchers, apply for Elec Training’s next intake, open evenings run twice a month.
- Landlords, consider sponsoring an apprentice, in-house skills pay back fast.
- Estate agents, partner with certified electricians, listings move quicker.
A new kitchen may wow viewers, but a fresh EICR signed by a well-trained sparkie can push the deal across the line quicker and, sometimes, at a better price, that silent upgrade starts with solid training, the lights stay on, and the sale board flips to SOLD a little sooner.
