07.04.2020
COVID-19 Moving in and out of a property during the pandemic
We have received several enquiries regarding what will happen should you need to move out, if you are due to move out or move into a property with us in the next few weeks or months.
At Sales and Lettings Angels we have over 3000 people moving in and out in the next 4 months so we will be reviewing the guidelines daily and inform you immediately of any changes in procedures.
Whilst the situation is fluid and whilst I personally do not think the information provided today may be terribly relevant for the next 4 months, I wanted to give some advice as it stands today following the current guidelines.
This information is based on the regulations as they stand today and should the government restrict/ease movement to a greater degree the information below will of course be updated.
The current guidelines can be found here:
12. Can I move house?
Homebuyers and renters should, where possible, delay moving to a new house while measures are in place to fight coronavirus.
If moving is unavoidable for contractual reasons and the parties are unable to reach an agreement to delay, people must follow advice on staying away from others to minimise the spread of the virus.
If you are due to move out
We are contacting every tenant due to move in or out in the next rolling four weeks in advance to try to ensure that no one is left without a home.
If you are not in good health, or a member of your household is self isolating you should not attempt to move out.
If we do not have tenants due to move into your property immediately, or if we have tenants due to move into your property but we have been able to delay the move in, we will be in contact with you to offer an extension of your tenancy (it will then be up to you to accept or decline the offer).
In the event that you and your household are well and we have not been able to delay the move in, unfortunately we would ask that you move out in accordance with the dates outlined in your tenancy agreement.
If we manage your property we will conduct an end of tenancy inspection however we will not allow you to be present for this due to social distancing measures. You will receive a copy of the report with photographs and have the option to comment on the contents of the report before your deposit is released.
We are currently releasing deposits on the same day of your move out if all parties are in agreement regarding any potential deductions.
If we do not manage your property - we will not conduct a check out inspection.
If you are due to move out, however your next property is either no longer available to you or you do not have anywhere to go, please contact this with us information and we will try to negotiate either an extension in your current property or find you alternative accommodation.
For this reason we would ask all of our tenants to ensure that they have arrangements in place for the end of their tenancy.
We are currently trying to delay the move in of tenants due to move in the next 4 weeks in line with current guidelines, so if you are due to move beyond this, currently we are treating those tenancies as we would normally so you will receive the normal communication from us.
Of course, this is very likely to change however it would be disadvantageous to all parties concerned if we were to guess what may happen with regards to personal movement in place beyond this time and try to now delay thousands of people from moving home in the next 5-16 weeks.
We would ask you to communicate with us if you have no arrangements for the end of your tenancy should your tenancy end before 1/08/2020.
We have vacant properties that we will be able to offer to tenants for flexible time frames should they have not made arrangements however these are unlikely to be offered at the same rental price that you may currently be paying so we do ask that you try to make your own arrangements.
Most agents are still allowing people to book properties without viewing and have video tours available. You should not ever feel pressurised into booking a property, particularly without a viewing, however it is your responsibility to ensure that you have somewhere to stay in the event of your tenancy ending on the date on your contract.
If you are due to move in
Similarly if you are due to move into a property with us in the next 4 weeks, if we have not already been in contact with you, we will do shortly.
We will ask if there is any way to delay your move in and if there is you should do this in line with the current guidelines. However if there is not, we will communicate with you regarding the circumstances of current occupiers of the property and if they are able to move out, we will be able to move you in.
If we are unable to move you into a property, we will do our best to offer you alternative accommodation until such a time that you can move into a property. The accommodation that we have available is currently very limited and may not be suitable due to size/condition/location or price so we would ask that you do also look at alternative accommodation in the event of not being able to move in.
All properties will receive a particularly deep clean with all surfaces being cleaned to reduce the risk of a transfer of the virus before new tenants move in.
If you are due to move in beyond 4 weeks, again, in the fluid situation we find ourselves where we are trying to help all parties, we are currently treating these as normal move in’s.
You will receive information for example asking you to book in a time slot to collect your keys and provide us with proof of a standing order. You will have also been sent a reminder regarding any documents outstanding from the referencing team.
We are processing all advance tenancies in this way to ensure there are no unnecessary delays in your move in when the time comes so we do ask for your full cooperation.
We do not want to have your property available and ready to move into but be in a position where we can not issue keys because we have yet to receive a referencing document or payment for the first month's rent.
**STUDENTS ONLY**
Move out
If you have moved out of your student house but have left belongings behind, under the current guidelines you should not return for your belongings. We will be in touch regarding what may happen for example if we remain on lockdown whilst your tenancy has ended however it is just too early for us to know what guidelines the Government will put in place.
We are looking into being able to offer students who have left their student house with most, but not all of their belongings a service where we are able to package up and post you your things if it will not be convenient for you to return to Cardiff.
Whilst this service is not currently available - if you have left any items that you need urgently behind such as medication, please contact us and we will do our best to post these items to you.
We are also forwarding urgent post to tenants so if you are expecting something in Cardiff that is vital, please contact us and we will happily forward this onto you.
Move in
Currently we are expecting all student tenancies to go ahead as normal. None of the relevant universities have currently advised they are delaying the enrolment of the 2020/2021 academic year.
Should this happen of course we will update you however currently we look forward to moving you into your new student accommodation.
Should you wish to move your belongings into properties we will be in touch with details for arranging this.
Unfortunately we are not able to bring forward the date of your contract or allow you to store belongings before the start date of your contract.
Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions
Kindest regards
Kelly Simms
Managing Director
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