Coronavirus renting rules: what to do if your housemate or neighbour won't cooperate with lockdown measures

What can you do if your flatmates won’t keep their distance to cut coronavirus risk? Online forums are flooded with pleas for advice from locked-down London renters.
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Londoners appear to have moved on from frantically trying to fill extra time spent at home under lockdown with manic DIY, endless quiz shows and cocktail-making contests, to establishing new routines to cope with the surreal lifestyle imposed on us all.

Across the city, neighbourly gestures of friendship have been endless. For renters, however, life is not always about sharing and caring.

Neighbourhood forums including the popular app Nextdoor, local WhatsApp threads and Mutual Aid Facebook groups have been flooded with pleas for advice from renters whose flatmates or neighbours are not taking self-isolation seriously.

Veronica, 26, who shares in west London, says: “I’m a Masters student so I can easily pick up my studies at home and stay out of harm’s way — but my flatmate has been online dating. I decided not to make too much fuss, as she said they were just going for walks in the park but now she is staying over with this guy and he is a key worker, so isn’t even isolating himself.

“I’ve asked her to stop but she refuses so we’ve had to agree not to use any areas of the flat at the same time and I’m extra vigilant about cleaning before and after I use anything.”

Tony, a musician, is a property guardian in east London, in a large building where 20 other people also live.

They share three bathrooms and two kitchens and the building has two separate entrances and staircases.

When one of the guardians showed Covid-19 symptoms, the residents used their home WhatsApp group to put a coping strategy in place.

“One of my housemates, a health professional, said the best way to avoid spreading it would be if people with symptoms used one designated bathroom and kitchen and avoided the common areas, which seemed sensible but a few people have been ignoring the rule,” claims Tony, 28.

“Somewhere this size, you have to rely on people’s efforts to act in everyone’s best interests. When they don’t, it’s hard to know what to do.”

Sometimes talking directly to the person causing the problem can work, as Yasmin, 33, found.

She lives in one of three flats in a west London house conversion. The tenant of one of the flats left to isolate with his family, so just Yasmin and her elderly neighbour remain in the building.

However, they discovered over Easter weekend that the absent renter had given his keys to friends while he was away.

“On Easter Saturday about seven strangers appeared in the garden drinking and playing loud music,” said Yasmin. “I try very hard not to contaminate the common parts for my neighbour’s safety. Then, all of a sudden there are strangers traipsing in and out, handling the banisters, the door handles and so on, as if lockdown wasn’t happening.

“Luckily, in the end we managed to get hold of our absent neighbour who told his friends to clear out — but by then the damage had been done.”

What are your options if a housemate or neighbour won't listen to reason?

Property lawyer Piers King says your first step should usually be friendly.

Communicate from a safe distance with the neighbour or flatmate and just say that their behaviour is disturbing you. More often than not a chat will solve the problem.

Then, if things don’t get better you need to talk to your landlord. The offending party may be in breach of their lease or tenancy agreement.

“There is usually a clause prohibiting immoral/unlawful activity in the property, though it will depend on the document in question and an application to court would be necessary in any case,” says King.

He points out, however: “There is currently a moratorium on evictions from private rented accommodation.

“I think the best option if all else fails, bearing in mind a ‘wait and see’ attitude isn’t exactly useful where there’s a virus rapidly spreading, is to call the police and discuss it with them or the local authority.”

  • Visit met.police.uk to find guidance and an online form that you can use to report matters to the police if you believe offences are being committed.

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