SOCIAL landlords have abandoned the cleaning of tenement blocks since the coronavirus health scare started, according to members of Scotland’s tenants union.
And Living Rent has penned an open letter from tenants across Scotland to Housing and Local Government Minister Kevin Stewart, calling for legislation to compel them to maintain appropriate levels of communal hygiene across their estate.
The union – which has mounted a Hygiene Kills the Virus campaign – said members were having to deal with disinfection themselves, unprotected and at their own cost.
They said tenants already had a service surcharge included in their rent, which meant Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) were charging them for a service they were no longer providing, as well as breaching their legal duty of care.
Sarah, a housing association tenant in the west of Scotland, said: “I pay a service charge for close cleaning. I’ve not seen anyone cleaning buzzer panels or the close door or close. We have had lots of traffic in the close due to anti-social behaviour from one tenant. Although notified of the fact there are people in/out not observing any social distancing and touching doors handles and bannisters.”
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Jennifer, a tenant in Edinburgh, said: “We’re meant to get our stair cleaned professionally every Thursday.
“I’ve not seen/heard the cleaners in at least three weeks. I’ve cleaned the stair rails personally once a week, no-one else in the stair has cleaned anything.”
In their letter to the Minister, Living Rent said: “By its very nature, social housing is home to a high number of vulnerable and elderly tenants.
“Given the high concentration of social housing in some areas, the urgency and expediency of an immediate resolution to this matter cannot be overstressed.
“We regard these provisions as the absolute minimum that RSLs should be legally held to in light of the public health crisis created by the Covid-19 pandemic: in currently failing to provide them, RSLs are breaching the duty care required of them.”
The union said Cube Housing and Maryhill Housing Association had responded positively to pressure from Living Rent members and had committed to extra cleaning, or to reinstate cleaning.
Sally Thomas, Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) chief executive, said: “Maintaining the safety and wellbeing of their tenants has been the key priority for housing associations and co-operatives since the start of the coronavirus outbreak. Social landlords have followed government guidelines from the beginning regarding how to maintain the health and safety of their tenants and staff ... Social landlords will continue to adapt their working practices as, and when, government guidance changes.”
Stewart added: “We know that social landlords are making every effort to provide regular cleaning routines in communal areas during the pandemic and we are clear that we expect them to continue to do so in line with public health advice on enhanced cleaning.”
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