One in every 1,067 homes across the UK experiences an electrical fire over a five year period according to new data collected by Fusion Electrical.
The shocking figures come as part of an FOI request across fire services nationwide, with Suffolk an electrical fire hotspot, hitting one in every 342 homes over half a decade. During a period where temperatures are already high, it’s a sure sign we need to be paying more attention to keeping our products cool and our homes safe.
Suffolk is joined by Northamptonshire and South Yorkshire as the hotspots of electrical fires, the latter experiencing more over a five year period than anywhere else in England. The top three all had one fire for under 500 houses, a statistic 10-times higher than the safest regions in the country.
James Harrison, owner of Fusion Electrical said: “Electrical safety is something that can easily be overlooked until there is a problem. Homeowners should not wait for an electrical fault or fire before considering the condition and safety of their home’s electrical installation.
“Our aim in carrying out this research was to highlight the scale of the issue and encourage people to take electrical safety seriously.”
Across last year there were well over 3,000 fires due to electrical faults in the UK, up on the previous year and it seems more of us are failing to replace or maintain appliances during the cost of living crisis.
James added: “We understand that people are having to manage finances much more closely these days, and some appliances may not feel a priority, but it’s important not to compromise on electricals.”
However, in North Yorkshire, Oxfordshire and Hertfordshire, more rural and areas which traditionally aren’t feeling the pinch as tightly that experience the lowest number of electrical faults, with one in every 5,774 homes, one in every 5,447 homes and one in every 3,243 homes across a five year period respectively. Norfolk, West Yorkshire and the West Midlands also rank as some of the safest places when it comes to electrical fires.
You can view the top 10 highest number of electrical fires reported per home below:
Top 10 areas by electrical fires relative to number of homes:
Rank
Area
Electrical fires – five years
Dwellings
Approx. rate
1
Suffolk
1,068
365,719
1 per 342 homes
2
Northamptonshire
929
350,315
1 per 377 homes
3
South Yorkshire
1,533
636,610
1 per 415 homes
4
Leicestershire
1,060
478,793
1 per 452 homes
5
Royal Berkshire
704
403,024
1 per 572 homes
6
Mid & West Wales
647
442,600
1 per 684 homes
7
Nottinghamshire
707
532,678
1 per 753 homes
8
Hereford & Worcestershire
461
371,914
1 per 807 homes
9
Merseyside
766
679,686
1 per 887 homes
10
Greater Manchester
1,449
1,289,123
1 per 890 homes
Lowest reported rates:
Rank
Area
Electrical fires – five years
Dwellings
Approx. rate
1
North Yorkshire
70
404,164
1 per 5,774 homes
2
Oxfordshire
91
495,654
1 per 5,447 homes
3
Hertfordshire
160
518,888
1 per 3,243 homes
4
Norfolk
127
377,415
1 per 2,972 homes
5
West Yorkshire
326
872,528
1 per 2,678 homes
6
West Midlands
454
1,202,063
1 per 2,648 homes
7
Surrey
206
514,000
1 per 2,496 homes
8
Humberside
204
467,740
1 per 2,292 homes
9
South Wales
387
790,696
1 per 2,043 homes
10
Devon & Somerset
262
522,345
1 per 1,993 homes