Cleanliness within property

[Claire Boyne]

Has anyone come across a situation where a resident is not maintaining a reasonable standard of cleanliness within their property? If so, how was the matter addressed?

[lana_sh]

Hi Claire,

We encountered this issue with one of our residents. Our Residents’ Handbook, which is based on the AA sample, includes a clause requiring residents to keep the property tidy. Failure to do so constitutes a breach of the licence agreement and may provide grounds for terminating the resident’s appointment.

In our case, we addressed the matter directly with the resident. Although the process was challenging and time-consuming, he ultimately agreed to hire regular cleaners. We assisted him in arranging this service.

I hope this helps.
Lana

[Anonymous]

Interesting! We too have a resident who not only doesn’t keep their property clean but it is also very cluttered!! We now do monthly checks on specific rooms to help her de-clutter but it is a good idea about having a regular cleaner! I will certainly suggest this when the property is much clearer so thank you for the advice.

[lana_sh]

Hello Yvonne,
Before we assisted the resident in arranging a regular cleaner, they had previously hired cleaners for one-off deep cleans. This was because the resident preferred not to spend money on regular cleaning services.
We are now considering to add a point to our Residents’ Handbook stating that residents are responsible for keeping their premises tidy and clean. If a resident fails to clean or declutter within one month after receiving a formal notification from the charity, the charity reserves the right to appoint a cleaner. The cost of this service will be added to the resident’s WMC.

[Harts]

I am following this thread with interest as we too have a similar problem and the resident does not act on our requests.
Our issue regarding employing cleaners is that by doing so we might be crossing the threshold of acting as a carer. I am sure I read somewhere that we have to be careful not to be seen taking on this role as they are supposed to live independently. Again we have a similar dilemma if we ask the local authority health dept to visit.

[clerk.stjohnswilton]

No, I’m absolutely certain that providing a cleaner to a beneficiary is not ‘acting as a carer’, which is defined as ‘the provision of personal care services, such as assistance with bathing, dressing, or medication administration’, which is what is regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). This is because CQC regulates services that provide personal care, and if an almshouse charity offered this type of support, it would fall under CQC’s purview.

Yes, providing a cleaner might be seen as acknowledging a benficiary’s inability to live entirely independently. But then, so could allowing a family member with Financial POA to handle their relative’s finances (eg ensure MMC and energy bills were paid in full and on demand). I’ve certainly done that in the past.

And gritted my teeth and provided a cleaner to a ‘grot’, spending (as we saw it) to avoid a huge decontamination and refurbishment operation when they eventually left us!

Nick Stiven
clerk@stjohnswilton@outlook.com

[Anonymous]

I had to chuckle at the description of a resident as a ‘grot’!!!

We have now arranged a date to help one resident de-clutter her property. I know this will be distressing for her but we are hoping that with us helping sort her stuff into keep, tip and charity shop, she will notice the difference and be inspired to keep her home neat and tidy! She will also be able to get to places to clean them and I will definitely be mentioning getting a cleaner to help her.

We have also updated our resident’s handbook accordingly. Thank you for all your advice.
Julie Tipler
Clerk

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