Umina Beach in brief
Over a century of building
The first land subdivision, in 1914, created today's commercial and residential centre.
Who lives here
At the 2021 Census, 76.7% of homes were separate houses. 32.9% were rented, 33.6% owned outright and 30.0% mortgaged.
Empty for part of the year
9.3% of the suburb's 7,861 dwellings were unoccupied on census night.
On the peninsula
Umina sits on the Woy Woy Peninsula, where council studies flag low-lying areas such as neighbouring Ettalong as increasingly exposed to sea level rise.
Fire
Umina, Woy Woy and Ettalong were among the places evacuated in the January 1994 bushfires.
Ausgrid
Outages and fallen lines go to Ausgrid on 13 13 88.
Which jobs come up, and why
Older beach houses. A house on one of the early blocks may have a switchboard from several owners ago. If it still has fuses, or sits on a dark backing board made before 1987, have it assessed: NSW says those boards can contain asbestos.
Rental smoke alarms and safety switches. At the start of a NSW tenancy, the condition report records whether there's a safety switch and whether it works. Landlords also check smoke alarms every year and replace them within 10 years of manufacture.
Knock-down rebuilds and extensions. A new home needs a switchboard with room for solar, a battery and an EV charger. Ausgrid's emergency backstop rules for new and upgraded solar phase in from 23 November 2026.
Safe for you, and licensed work
You can
- Push the test button on your smoke alarms, and put in fresh batteries where the alarm takes them.
- Reset a safety switch once after it trips.
- Stop using any appliance that sparks, smells hot or trips the power.
Leave to a licensed electrician
- Moving or adding power points.
- Replacing a hardwired smoke alarm.
- Any work at the switchboard or meter box.
What we would do in Umina
On an older beach house, we'd start with a safety check and the switchboard. If a rebuild is a few years off, we'd fix only what's unsafe now and plan the rest into the new build, rather than paying for the same work twice.
Want a specialist to sort it?
Tell us the job and your postcode. We match the licence-checked local electrician who does this kind of work, and they call you. No ring-around, and your number goes to them alone.