Signs of Hoarding and how we can help

What is hoarding?

Hoarding is recognised as a mental health disorder and is described on the NHS website as follows:

A hoarding disorder is where someone acquires an excessive number of items and stores them in a chaotic manner, usually resulting in unmanageable amounts of clutter. The items can be of little or no monetary value.

Early signs of hoarding to watch out for:

It is essential as a landlord, letting agent, or property manager that you carry out regular inspections and that your team is aware of the signs to look out for.

Here is a list of what to be aware of that may be an alert to hoarding.

Tenant being difficult allowing access to the property
Change in tenants behaviour
Items building up visibly on window sills
No response from attempts to contact tenant
Clutter developing each time a property inspection is carried out.
Report from trades person saying access is difficult.
Overspill of clutter to gardens

If early signs are noticed:

A proactive, non judgemental approach is required. Remember this is a mental health disorder and not a lifestyle choice.

To make any progress anyone working with the tenant will need to gain their trust.

A fire service safe and well check is a good starting point

Going from here a plan of action is required. Remember small steps are better than no steps.

Risks associated with hoarded properties:

Air quality issues develop
Mildew and fungus growth
Structural damage due to weight of hoard
Pest infestation
Decline in tenants mental health and social isolation
Resident complaints
Slips, trips and falls of tenant and all who enter
Crush due to hoard collapse
Fire risk due to increase in flammable materials, covered sockets and blocked fire exits
Presences of dangerous biohazard which can be harmful to health for tenant and anyone entering the building
Poor health and hygiene

What can the specialist Cleaning group do to help?

We are leading the way

There are various options available and this will mainly depend on:

Is this an empty property?

Is the tenant needing support with the cleanup?

If an empty property with no tenant then the process is as follows

Site visit.
Quote sent including proposal.
Plan for schedule of work.
Skips booked, if required (waste removal is charged at cost)
Day before the clean (if required) pest control treatment for flies.
Day one. FIrstly team dress in appropriate PPE and the whole property is fogged and disinfected. Windows are opened.
Waste removed. There may be biohazard waste and this will need to be disposed of separately. We do try to work to the three Rs of waste reduce - reuse - recycle. However, if biohazard waste is present we are not able to reuse and recycle.
If needle clearance is requried this will slow the process considerably as every inch and bag of rubbish needs to be checked and double checked.
There may be multiple skips required. We will arrange delivery and collections
Once clear, there may be more further pest control treatments required
Next any evidence of mould is treated.
Clean will now commence. Two step cleaning process. This is cleaning and disinfecting.
At end of clean up we are also able to carry out repairs and redecorate.
Property is now ready to relet.

If this is a property with a tenant then the situation is very different.

Firstly, the tenant needs to be ready to engage. This may take time. Regular discussions and meetings help. The tenant must remain in control and not feel that people are coming into their home and just removing everything. This approach will cause the tenant to back away and not engage.
Often tenants can't afford the this support. There will need to be discussions regarding where the funding is coming from for the hoarding support.
The tenant will need professional help. This is a mental health issue.
We work with tenants as a partnership. Developing a relationship of trust. Working on decluttering and identifying emotional links to belongings and supporting residents in pattern changing behaviour. This leads towards successful outcomes.
The best and most successful way to approach this is regular visits eg weekly. This small steps approach helps develop relationships, and helps avoid overwhelm.
Once the property is at a level of less clutter and safer, a regular visit from our team is suggested. For some we go in weekly to help support and watch for clutter build up. Many people who hoard struggle with chronic disorganisation and this is often how the situation.

A note about one off clearance

If a tenanted property we avoid one off large scale clearances often called resets. The reason being is that we are dealing with someone who has emotional attachments to their belongings and a potential mental health disorder. A one of clearance will cause distress even to the limit of PTSD and will most definitely not stop this happening again in a years time. The success of large scale clearance is pretty much non existent.

We do recognise in times of need this is required, due to huge health and safety risks and non engagement from resident and are always available to help. Before you get to this stage always contact us first. All our initial visits are free of charge and we may just connect with the resident.

Training

We offer online training for you and your team should you require. We can do this online via Zoom or come to you in person. Packages are available to suit your requirements.

For information on training email. donna@thespecialistcleaninggroup.co.uk