You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Government confirms ‘non-essential’ social housing allocations can resume
Social housing lettings deemed “non-essential” can now go ahead as part of the government’s move to reopen the housing market.
New guidance for social landlords on how to handle allocations during the coronavirus pandemic was published on Wednesday afternoon.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has now confirmed to Inside Housing that the update means “non-essential” moves can resume.
The new guidance, which applies only to England, says that social landlords “will need to consider how to carry out their activities in line with the government’s advice on social distancing in the workplace”.
Practices should be altered to enable social distancing, it adds, including property inspections, viewings, tenancy sign-ups and preparing homes for reletting.
Guidance issued on 27 April advised social landlords to “pause non-essential allocation and transfer activity”.
Essential allocations were classed as those involving someone fleeing domestic abuse or currently in temporary accommodation.
The webpage for the older advice now carries a note stating it has been withdrawn because it is out of date.
READ MORE
According to the new guidance, landlords “should avoid” tenants who are showing COVID-19 symptoms or who are self-isolating or shielding because they are in a high-risk group.
However, it adds that “there may be exceptions”, such as safety reasons, in which case landlords should speak to the local public health team before acting.
Tenants anxious about moving should not be “put under pressure to move, if they are not ready or able to do so”, the guidance states.
The guidance also includes advice on the Right to Buy.
“Landlords will want to consider how best they can manage the application process to ensure tenants are able to take up their Right to Buy within a reasonable timescale, while acting in accordance with government guidelines on social distancing,” it reads.
Inside Housing revealed this week that MHCLG has suggested that councils carry out “drive-by” or desktop valuations of homes for Right to Buy sales.
On the sale of new homes, the guidance confirms that deals can go ahead but that developers must ensure they follow government safe working advice and inform staff and customers about the procedures in place.
The government announced that it was restarting the housing market with immediate effect on Tuesday night, having imposed a freeze on home moves in late March as part of its response to coronavirus.
Governments in other parts of the UK have kept the freeze in place.
Update: at 9.06am 15/05/20 the story was updated following government confirmation that non-essential allocations can continue.
Sign up for our tenancy management newsletter
Already have an account? Click here to manage your newsletters
