Information for landlords
As well as a responsibility for yourself and any family, you also have a duty of care to your tenants as a houses in multiple occupation (HMO) landlord.
As a landlord, it is important for you to make your own decisions and arrangements related to your own situation, the characteristics of your tenants and service users and local circumstances. You should take a risk-based approach as the situation develops and you should monitor the situation closely. Any actions and services that relate to the health and safety of your tenants should be your top priority.
Buildings are a hub for spreading disease. If you are a landlord or managing agent running a HMO or bedsit, you should clean more often than usual and use disinfectant cleaning products. For more information on cleaning see GOV.UK: COVID-19: cleaning in non-healthcare settings
Tenants should advise you if they have any symptoms and the whole household will need to self-isolate for 10 days.
As a landlord or agent you should take steps to limit the possibility of transmission and help make tenants feel safer:
You should make arrangements for the cleaning and disinfecting of surfaces like front-door handles, as well as common rooms and laundry rooms. You could also have hand-sanitizer located around the property
Ventilate shared kitchens, bathrooms and sitting areas as much as possible
Consider the use of a rota system for using all shared facilities
All residents in the house need to clean the bathroom and kitchen after each use by wiping surfaces they have come in contact with
Post the Public Health England self-isolation poster in common areas of your HMOs
Make sure tenants have sufficient WiFi and that the service can support additional usage
Familiarise yourself with the Public Health England guidance on decontaminating your HMOs should tenants become sick with COVID-19
If you need to cancel cleaning services due to a tenant self-isolating, supply tenants with additional cleaning materials
Make sure your tenants have comfortable work stations in their rooms if they are working from home
Make sure that there are adequate arrangements in place for waste collection with either the Council's waste collection service or by a specialist clinical waste contractor
Tenants have been advised on how to treat and store suspect waste from persons in the house showing symptoms waste should be double bagged and stored for 72hrs and not in a communal area
You will be supplied with orange clinical waste bags to place the bags into so the waste can be sent for appropriate treatment
Make sure that all statutory legislation is applied as much as it can be
Communal areas and shared facilities
Communal areas and shared facilities can carry lots of germs.
You must let the property manager and anyone else living in the same accommodation know if you have symptoms, as you will all need to self-isolate. See GOV.UK: Stay at home guidance for households with possible coronavirus (COVID-19) infection
Landlords do not have to provide alternative accommodation for tenants if others in the property contract the virus.
To maintain health and safety, you should clean more often and use disinfectant cleaning products. See GOV.UK: COVID-19: cleaning in non-healthcare settings
Sharing a bathroom
Set up a rota if you can
If someone you are living with has the virus, make sure they use the bathroom last for washing
Use your own towels
Clean the bathroom thoroughly before Leaving
Toilets
Thoroughly clean the toilet after use
Wash the hand basin after use
Do not share towels
Sharing a kitchen
Set up a rota system for using the kitchen
Any self-isolated person should:
wear a face mask
use the kitchen after everyone else
take their food back to their room
The best way to wash up is with a dishwasher
Table wear and kitchen utensils should not be shared without being thoroughly cleaned first
Where possible keep food in your rooms. If the food needs to be chilled or frozen, make sure that each person's item is clearly identifiable as being theirs
Rooms and lounges
Do not let people into your rooms and keep a safe distance from other people in your building when moving around the house
Do not allow visitors into the building without the permission of the landlord or property manager
Please do not hang around or congregate in the hallways, front of building, lounges or kitchens - you must keep a safe distance from people at all times
Please follow the current advice from the government.
For Further Information Relating to COVID 19 and advice for both Landlords and Tenants please follow the links provided
Please follow the current advice from the government:
Until next time
Stay Safe
Paul @ PR Property Group