Before You Buy Your Home in Maltby | Electrical Checks

Buying a house in Maltby? Read this before you make an offer

You have found the house. You have walked round it twice. You know where the sofa is going and whether the car fits on the drive.

Nobody has looked at the wiring. Not you, not the estate agent, and not the surveyor, whose report will most likely say the electrics were not tested and you should ask a qualified electrician.

I’m Mat Orton, and I am that electrician. I have been doing this for 25+ years, and MP Electrical is just along the A631 in Wickersley.

Maltby’s houses have a birthday

Most towns grow slowly. Maltby did not.

In 1900 it was a farming village of about 500 people. The pit shafts went down from 1907 and the town went up around them. First the Model Village for the miners. Then Little London in the war, for the munitions workers who came up from Enfield. Then more streets for the Scottish families in the 1950s and 60s.

I am not telling you this for the history. I am telling you because wiring has a birthday too, and in some houses it is still the same one as the bricks.

Three things I look for in a house that age

Rubber cable. Before plastic, cable was insulated with rubber. Rubber does not last. It dries, it cracks, and when I take a switch off the wall it can come away in my fingers like an old elastic band.

Lights with no earth. Older lighting circuits were often wired with no earth at all. That was fine with a plastic fitting. Then years later someone hangs a metal one from it.

Gas and water pipes not earthed. Where those pipes come into the house, they should be connected to the earthing at the fuseboard. In plenty of older houses I open up, nobody ever did it.

Not one of these stops the lights working. That is the problem.

What I cannot tell you from here

Whether the house you want has any of this. Some older houses were rewired properly years ago and are sound. Some have a new kitchen, new windows and the original wiring behind fresh plaster. From the pavement they look the same.

So have it tested

A full EICR is what I recommend on any house you are buying. I open the fuseboard, test the circuits, check the earthing, and write down what I find. Then I explain it to you in plain English.

What buyers ask me

Can it be done before I exchange? Yes, if the seller lets me in. It is their house until you complete, so ask the estate agent to arrange it.

What if you find something? Then you know while it is still the seller’s house and not yours. What you do next is your call. Some buyers take the report back to the seller. Some budget for the work. Some walk away.

Will you tell me it needs a rewire? Only if it does. The report says what I found, not what I would like to sell you.

The fuseboard looks ancient. Is that bad? An old fuseboard tells me to look harder. It does not tell me the answer.

Do you do small jobs once we are in? Yes. Any size. An extra socket is as welcome as a new fuseboard.

Before you ring

Read our reviews. I would. There are 330+ five star reviews on Google, and we have done over 1000 jobs. MP Electrical is NAPIT registered.

Helpful Guides for Homebuyers

• Do I Need a New Fuse Board? 7 Signs It’s Time to Upgrade
• Signs Your House Needs Rewiring
• Old Fuse Box vs Modern Consumer Unit
• Electrical Jobs You Should Never DIY
• UK Electrical Safety Rules Every Homeowner Should Know

Areas We Cover Near Maltby

MP Electrical helps homebuyers in Maltby and across Rotherham, Wickersley, Dinnington, Thurcroft and Aston.

Page last updated: 4 October 2026