DEVON ROSE COVID-19 POLICY FOR LANDLORDS
Dear Landlord
Due to the rapidly evolving situation throughout the UK we are monitoring all government guidelines and recommendations as well as medical advice. As a result, Devon Rose will be implementing some changes in the way we work in order to protect the health and well-being of our team, contractors and tenants.
We are striving to provide our daily service with as little disruption as possible. Our focus will be on ensuring that all rental payments are processed as normal and all emergency maintenance is conducted.
We appreciate that you may have a mortgage that is covered by the rental payments you receive. While Devon Rose aim to ensure that all landlords are paid as normal, it is speculated that some tenants may suffer from job insecurity or a loss of income throughout this turbulent time. With this in mind it may be prudent to be aware of your mortgage provider’s terms and conditions and whether they have a specific policy in the unfortunate event that your rental income is negatively affected.
With the safety of all concerned parties in mind, we will be risk-assessing all potential property visits and only attending a property if it is deemed to be strictly necessary. As a result we will be conducting all scheduled periodic property inspections by phone or email and tenants will be encouraged to report any maintenance to us using photographs if required. If information is provided that suggests a property visit is of high importance then this will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Any maintenance that is reported will be graded by priority, any defects that pose a health risk to the occupants or poses a risk of further damage being caused to the property will be prioritised as an emergency and actioned as quickly as possible.
Anything deemed to be non-essential will be considered and risk-assessed, and may be postponed until a suitable contractor is available or until it is deemed safe to do so.
At the present time there has not been any government advice regarding the lettings industry and we await guidance regarding self-isolating tenants and how to complete the legal obligations of landlords (such as periodic gas safety requirements, emergency boiler maintenance etc). Until this is received, we will continue to adhere, as best as possible, to all legal obligations on behalf of our landlords with the resources we have available.
For the ongoing well-being of our team, unless you feel it is strictly necessary to visit the office, we respectfully ask that all queries are conducted via email or phone until further notice.
17 March 2020