Does my house need rewiring, and what does it involve?
Probably not on age alone. Rewiring is sold on the basis that wiring "expires" after a fixed period, and the honest answer is that condition and safety standards matter, not the calendar.
The genuine indicators:
Rubber, lead or fabric-sheathed cable, typically pre-1960s. This does degrade — insulation becomes brittle and crumbles when disturbed — and is a real reason to rewire.
An old fuse box with rewirable fuses and no RCD protection.
No earthing to lighting circuits, common in mid-century installations.
Round-pin sockets or sockets without earth.
A failed EICR with C1 or C2 codes across the installation rather than in isolated places.
Signs of trouble — scorching, a persistent burning smell, repeated tripping, or warm faceplates.
What does not require rewiring: PVC cable from the 1970s onwards in good condition; not enough sockets, which is an extension job; an old consumer unit, which can be replaced on its own; or simply passing an arbitrary age.
What a rewire involves. New cable to every circuit, which means lifting floorboards and chasing channels into walls. New consumer unit, earthing and bonding. Usually new sockets, switches and light fittings. It is disruptive: expect dust, holes in walls, and a period without power in each area. Making good is frequently excluded from quotes — plastering and redecoration can be a substantial additional cost, and this is the single most common source of dispute.
When to do it: before plastering, flooring or decorating, and ideally as part of a wider renovation, since combining it with other work roughly halves the practical disruption.
The regulatory side. Electrical work in dwellings is notifiable in many jurisdictions and must be certified and, where required, notified to building control — either by a registered competent person or through a building control application. Keep the certificate, since it is requested when you sell.
A partial rewire is legitimate where only some circuits are defective, and a competent electrician will say so rather than quoting for everything.
Get an EICR first. It costs a fraction of a rewire and tells you what actually needs doing.