Maintenance and repairs work can still be carried out on rental homes, Government tells agents

Maintenance on rental homes can still be carried out, the Government has confirmed.

The guidance, issued yesterday to membership bodies for dissemination to agents, says:

“Work carried out in people’s homes, for example by tradespeople carrying out repairs and maintenance, can continue, provided that the tradesperson is well and has no symptoms.

“It will be important to ensure that Public Health England guidelines, including maintaining a two metre distance from any household occupants, are followed to ensure everyone’s safety.

“No work should be carried out in any household which is isolating or where an individual is being shielded, unless it is to remedy a direct risk to the safety of the household, such as emergency plumbing or repairs, and where the tradesperson is willing to do so.

“In such cases, Public Health England can provide advice to tradespeople and households.

“No work should be carried out by a tradesperson who has coronavirus symptoms, however mild.”

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5 Comments

  1. DASH94

    We are asking tenants to time their daily exercise or shopping trip with essential contractor visits.

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  2. Snyper

    I appreciate these are tough times and maybe every penny counts but what contractor is going to willfully go into a property where there is the risk a tenant has the virus?

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    1. MrSpark

      Greedy ones !

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  3. Mothers Ruin

    I think that when the Chancellor announces his measures for the self-employed later today there won’t be many contractors working to instruct!

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  4. MrSpark

    Absolutely crazy !  The government are peddling information which suggests, quite rightly so, that people should avoid leaving their home unless it is absolutely necessary but Sect.4 of the Cabinet Office document basically says that for tradesmen working in tenanted properties that it’s ‘business as usual’  I really don’t feel that it’s a matter of life or death that Mrs Jones is having trouble closing her living room door or that Mr Smith has a slight drip from his kitchen tap, however according to Sect.4, we’ll be all good to attend !!

    I’m all for dealing with genuine high priority jobs – power outages, water leaks, lock outs, vandalism etc but there are not many REAL emergencies when all comes to all, for example – the shower doesn’t work – you have a bath so use it, The downstairs toilet is difficult to flush – use the upstairs one, the kitchen tap is dripping – make sure the plug isn’t in and leave it be – you see where I’m coming from ?, many things which, to the tenant, are ’emergencies’ are simply not emergencies at all and sometimes not even urgent and can be dealt with at a safer and more appropriate time.

    As someone above has quite rightly said, Now that the Chancellor has said how he’s going to help the Self Employed, I doubt that many sub-contractors will be even bothered to put themselves at risk.

    I’m employed directly by the letting agent and therefore have slightly less options, however if my hand is forced, and they push me to carry on business as usual, I’ll take the Governments 80% and be done with it.

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