Northampton Labour group raises concerns over shared homes as coronavirus cases rise

The Northampton Labour Group is appealing to landlords to be responsible and only rent out a bedroom in a Houses in Multiple Occupancy (HMO) if it has an ensuite.

Leader of the Labour group, Danielle Stone, has raised concerns over health and safety standards some landlords are adhereing to and thinks a shared bathroom and communal areas in a shared home could be dangerous.

She said: “In this day and age it should be taken for granted that everyone should have access to their own bathrooms.

"All HMOs should be ensuites. Strangers sharing bathrooms makes Covid-secure hygiene impossible. It makes social isolation, sheltering, or quarantining next-to impossible.

"Where different households share an entrance way and communal areas there should be a requirement for landlords to undertake a weekly deep clean."

Following the Greencore outbreak in August, there was 16 incidents of people working at the Moulton Park Industrial Estate firm who were living in HMOs and tested positive for Covid-19.

According to the latest available data published by the Government, 333 people tested positive in the last seven days in Northampton and there is a current infection rate of 148.3 per 100,000 people per week.

Nearby Coventry, who moved into Tier Two on Saturday 24 had a current seven-day infection rate at 179 cases per 100,000 people.

Councillor Stone (Lab, Castle) continued to add that in areas like Castle, Semilong and Abington where there are lots of streets of small terraced housing, the pathways are often very narrow, which makes it difficult to pass people while maintaining a metre distance.

Social distancing measures have been enforced in other areas across the town. From September 4, The Ridings now closes to traffic between 7.30pm to 2am every Friday and Saturday.

The closure is from the car park exit on The Ridings, up to the junction with Fish Street. However, as a left turn from Fish Street is prohibited, these measures will also lead to the closure of Dychurch Lane.

She added: "In Northampton we have many families living in overcrowded conditions. This means parents and children are on top of each other, without adequate storage, room to play, room to study.

"Lockdown makes this so much worse. When this happens the parents and the children need safe places to go, like inside and outside play areas and libraries.

"Can schools be asked to help with this? Can other community spaces, like church halls, be made safe to be used?"