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Landlords and the Coronavirus Emergency – house moves

April 2, 2020 by Tessa Shepperson

CoronavirusA series of posts giving advice and guidance to private residential landlords during this coronavirus emergency period.

3 What should you do about house (or flat or room) moves?

No doubt people have plans to move.  However whatever those plans were – everything has now changed with the coronavirus emergency.  If at all possible those plans should be abandoned or delayed until the crisis is over.

The most important thing right now is for everyone to stay in their homes.  It is only by everyone remaining put in their homes that we will be able to beat this crisis.

In particular:

  • people who are being shielded,
  • people who are suffering from Covid-19 and/or
  • self isolating

should not be moved.

In these circumstances, other parties should show pragmatism.  These things happen.

Tenants – if your landlord is asking you to move, at the present time you should refuse unless you wish to leave.  Landlords cannot force you to leave against your will.  The government guidance is for you to remain in your property during the lockdown period.

If there is really no alternative to the move

(And provided the parties are not self-isolating or being shielded), then the government have confirmed that the move can go ahead.  However, you need to take great care to observe social distancing rules – save among members of the same household.

Remember always that many people will have the virus and be infectious but will show no symptoms.  This will put you and others at risk!

The problems and dangers of house moves

It is very difficult to effect house moves, particularly where heavy furniture is being moved around, while maintaining social distancing rules. So unless only those in the same household are involved, there is a chance for the virus to spread.

Also moving furniture and effects will create a lot of dust in the air which could affect people’s vulnerability to the virus – this could be the difference between people experiencing light symptoms and serious or even fatal problems.

Remember that even some young fit and healthy people are dying.

HMOs / Shared Houses

There are particular dangers with HMO properties where people share living accommodation as you will be moving someone into the household who could possibly be infected with the virus and who may, in turn, infect other tenants they come into contact with.

Unless it is possible for the new tenants to self isolate from the other occupiers it would be best to delay in the move.  Bear in mind that the virus can remain on surfaces for 3 days or more.  Landlords who suffer financial loss as a result of this may be eligble for government support.

Checkout meetings

In these unusual circumstances, it is probably best for checkout meetings not to take place and for landlords and agents to do or arrange for checkout inspections after the tenants have vacated.

If tenants are worried about this, they could take photographs or video evidence of the condition of the property at departure.

After tenants have moved out

Ideally, the property should be left empty for a while, ideally several days or a week, before any new tenants move in, to allow time for any virus on surfaces to die off.  Remember the virus can remain active for some time on surfaces.

The property should then be properly cleaned.   You will find guidance here.

If you are worried about any aspect of this, seek advice from  Public Health England.

And finally

The advice is to avoid house moves wherever possible. This is partly why the government has stopped all evictions from taking place.

But if they are unavoidable (and the parties are not being shielded or self-isolating), then you should observe the social distancing rules and effect the move in a way which is least likely to put people at risk.

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Landlord Law for Landlords

Are you a landlord, unsure how to manage your properties in these uncertain times?  My Landlord Law service can help you in this crisis by providing online help and guidance and giving you one to one advice in the members' forum area.

>> Find out more about Landlord Law.


IMPORTANT: Please check the date of the post above - remember, if it is an old post, the law may have changed since it was written.

You should always get independent legal advice before taking any action.

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About Tessa Shepperson

Tessa is a specialist landlord & tenant solicitor and the creator of this site! She is a director of Landlord Law Services which now hosts Landlord Law and other services for landlords and property professionals.

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Comments

  1. Roy S Hopkins says

    April 2, 2020 at 11:02 AM

    I think District Councils should extend the period were no Council Tax is paid while the property is empty and unoccupied during this coronaviros bad time because Landlords cannot rent or sell their properties.

    Kind Regards
    Roy Hopkins

Posts

  • Government Guidance for Landlords and Tenants during the coronavirus emergency
  • The Lockdown Learning Project
  • Free Accommodation Websites for NHS staff during the coronavirus emergency

 

Information Posts on:

  • Keeping Records
  • Gas Safety
  • House moves
  • Property viewings
  • GDPR and Data Protection

 

Webinars

  • Landlord Law Webinar on Coronavirus and what Landlords need to Know (24 March 2020)
  • Letting Property during the Coronavirus Emergency – Two Webinars
  • Dealing with Lettings during the Coronavirus Emergency (9 April 2020)

 

Blog Clinic Posts

  • Do tenants risk penalties if they are unable to vacate at the end of their notice period?
  • Desperate landlord needs her home back but tenants are refusing to vacate
  • Accidental landlord asks what he can do when his tenants leave before the tenancy ends

Disclaimer

The purpose of this blog is to provide information, comment and discussion.

Although Tessa, or guest bloggers, may from time to time, give helpful comments to readers' questions, these can only be based on the information given by the reader in his or her comment, which may not contain all material facts.

Any comments or suggestions provided by Tessa or any guest bloggers should not, therefore be relied upon as a substitute for legal advice from a qualified lawyer regarding any actual legal issue or dispute.

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Please also note that any opinion expressed by a guest blogger is his or hers alone, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Tessa Shepperson, or the other writers on this blog.

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