The lettings industry have a lot of regulations covering their businesses and recents changes require thougtht to be put into making them more accessible. Lettings landlords are advised to undertake an access audit of their properties. It helps and guides owners to indentify fair and reasonable adjustments that will be required for guests with impairment of all kinds, be that mobility, cognitive or sensory. The recommendations are that the audit follows a guest’s journey through the holiday home and this will include from the point of arrival and entry into it. The access to each room will be assessed and the facilities provided in each. Then concluding with exiting the let. The audit should take careful note of additional needs in the case of an emergency.
Are the doorways and hallways on the quaint but narrow side; are there appliances in a difficult to reach location. In fact, are there areas of the let that are only acessible via stairs or are confined in space and challenging. Are there steps from the parking area or steps out of back doors or patio doors. This is often the case in even modern properties where there is a flat pathway into the house but the patio doors leading to the garden or side door from the kitchen have a huge step down.
If a landlord feels this is a bit too much responsibility to undertake, then there are professional agencies who undertake these audits and provide actionable recommendations. The thing is not to be put off letting spare property, just calmly take stock of what is being offered and how reasonable would the accessability needs be – there is a loyal following of properties that do go that extra mile for them and the lettings calenders tend to be fuller for the entire season for that reason.