Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to support shielding tenants in private rented accommodation whose landlord requests that a third party access their property at short notice.

Tenants have a right to the quiet enjoyment of their property and must be given at least 24 hours’ notice of any visit to the property. If a tenant is self-isolating, no work should be carried out in their home unless it is to remedy a direct risk that affects their safety or the safety of their household.

Landlords of clinically extremely vulnerable people can carry out routine repairs and inspections, provided the latest guidance on social distancing, working safely in people’s homes and guidance for clinically extremely vulnerable individuals is followed.

It remains a crime for a landlord to harass a tenant. Tenants who are concerned should contact their local authority or the police.