The Association of Independent Inventory Clerks says it has contacted the government to see whether its members are deemed ‘essential’ and therefore entitled to work.
This follows the government urging the maximum number of people to work from home if possible.
Danny Zane, chair of the AIIC, says: “Our property inventory reports are responsible for the safe keeping and returns of tenant deposits alongside enabling tenants to leave ending tenancies and check into and take possession of new homes.
“It’s become even more vital that we ensure that people leaving rental accommodation have a smooth transition into their new home, when this doesn’t happen we see potential homelessness and a rise in vulnerability.
“At the moment new tenancies provide new tenants with the safe space required to self-isolate in an already signed tenancy awaiting the move in process. It is difficult to know if we are or will be included in the current list as an essential worker but we believe we are essential for the part of our housing market that is still carrying out move ins.”
Zane says inventory reporting not only keeps tenancies, the deposits and all parties safe from unscrupulous claims, it keeps the housing market moving with key hand overs and check-ins and check-outs.
“We have called on the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to state whether they believe us to be essential in the current climate under the lockdown we are now in. In my opinion its safety first, safety is the priority” Zane concludes.
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The guidelines are very clear, as long as you follow the rules about 2m separation, and you cannot work from home then you can continue working. I'm doing check ins and outs without tenants present, when keys are handed over this is simply done by leaving the keys on a worktop or similar, there is no need for any physical contact. The way this government treats landlords I can see us moving towards a situation where they will just say give the entire deposit back no matter how badly the tenant has left the property. a surprising number of clerks are saying that they have cancelled all their appointments, each to their own but I suspect I am more likely to become infected at the supermarket than at work, avoiding public transport, plenty of gloves and sanitiser.
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