What is essential work when it comes to houses/gardens?

[SistemaAddict]

I'm hearing of all sorts of home improvements going on such as extensions being built, trees in gardens being felled, gardens being landscaped. It surprises me as I wouldn't have classed it as essential but I imagine being in the middle of building an extension would be awful if it had to be left for potentially months. And these workers can't work from home and need the income unless they are covered by the self employment help from the government?
What do you class as essential?

[AmelieTaylor]

It's ridiculous having

-legislation
-guidelines
-police enforcement guidelines

When they each say different things!

[mynameiscalypso]

I totally agree @Annarosez however I think this whole thing has shown that the vast majority of people find it very hard to assess risk.

[Annarosez]

I wonder whether people should be thinking more about risk and less about what is allowed.

You are allowed to have people work in your house. If your boiler isn't working or the toilet plumbing needs seeing to then it is essential that you get someone in, even if that means that you are exposing yourself and your family to potential risk of Coronavirus. If you are having unnecessary work done on your house then (and remember people can be asymptomatic but still contagious) you are risking yours and your family's health unnecessarily.

[cologne4711]

I think any outside work is fine, you don't need to have contact with a tree surgeon or a gardener.

Inside work is more difficult unless you go out while the person is doing the work.

I have a friend who does some plumbing and odd jobs and he's interpreting the rules as meaning any outside work is ok, but inside work needs to be essential or at least sorting out a problem eg he would replace a radiator if it were leaking but not just because you want a new one to look nicer.

[mynameiscalypso]

I don't think that's fair at all @Sennetti. A serious recession will lead to a lot of premature deaths (of all ages). Without people earning (and therefore paying taxes), we won't be able to fund the NHS and other essential services in years to come. It is a fact though that economic hardship and poverty leads to more deaths than otherwise would occur. It has to be a balancing act. We can't just say screw the economy because the knock on implications of that are - potentially - more horrendous than those of CV.

[stardance]

We have had work done to one of our walls. Quite a big, loud, messy job- but it was essential in that rain was coming inside the house! Plus it could only be done after a run of good dry weather. We had one builder, working alone, who didn't need to come in to the house at all.

[rabbitsnose]

If the economy dies, so do people. So it's not unreasonable to care about the state of the economy while also caring about coronavirus. It's called balance.

[Pinkblueberry]

We’ve had our crumbling garden wall repaired because it was becoming a hazard. Same with the garden fence which is also in a bit of a precious situation as it’s only being held up by the tree next to it since recent windy weather. We rent and the letting agency deemed it essential - so I would say anything causing a hazard or that will cost more in the long run or cause more damage if left. But as pp have said, when someone is coming to work in the garden it’s more than easy enough to apply social distancing measures.

[Sennetti]

hmm still cant help but feel that if there had been several thousand, or just hundreds, of cutesy little four year olds incorporated in the death toll figures then attitudes would be somewhat different

because its old people, its 'meh, the economy, blah blah'

[Missingminieggs]

And we absolutely need non-essential business to be up and running if we're going to emerge from this with any kind of economy!

I don't think a lot of people have realised this still. I think people assumed that we were shutting the whole country down part from supermarkets and the emergency services. But this isn't the case and isn't in the plan.

The government wants to keep the economy moving.

[rabbitsnose]

Agreed @mynameiscalypso

[mynameiscalypso]

And we absolutely need non-essential business to be up and running if we're going to emerge from this with any kind of economy!

[Missingminieggs]

It isn't according to mumsnet though, it's according the the government guidelines.

There are absolutely loads of non essential businesses that are still up and running.

[rabbitsnose]

We had a tree removed recently because it was falling over. Social distancing was absolutely observed

[mynameiscalypso]

By which I mean, the cleaner is earning money to pay their bills and feed their family. The risk of catching CV may be similar to having a friend round but that has to be weighed against the economic benefit of that person continuing to work. It's not always black and white.

[Sennetti]

and non essential but according to mumsnet it should be fine

[Sennetti]

its still mixing households...

[mynameiscalypso]

Um, the cleaner is working?

[Sennetti]

whats the difference between having the cleaner in and a friend round?

[Inkpaperstars]

I think essential work is work that alleviates an urgent problem such a flooding, or a problem that will make coping in lockdown very difficult such as loss of electricity.

[MoltoAgitato]

Our boiler is being replaced as I write this. It died terminally over Easter; not sure how we are supposed to follow basic hygiene with no hot water. Plumber glad of the work and due to location of boiler in the house, can easily stay more than 2 meters away - and there are several doors between the living areas of the house and the boiler.

[mynameiscalypso]

The cleaning company I use said they would be happy to send a cleaner if we wanted - we don't (although we're still paying) because I can keep the place clean myself but I know for a fact that our cleaner is still working for other people in our building because I've seen her several times.

[Sennetti]

no....you still need to observe social distancing if you go out to work!!

2 men in a van? our company hired a separate vehicle for drivers mate to travel, theres ways round it.....1 in the van 1 in the car

money is what stops businesses doing the right thing

[Missingminieggs]

A van not a can

[Missingminieggs]

You probably are still allowed to hire a cleaner to be honest. Not sure about hairdressers.

I agree they rules' seem stupid at times.

Can't sit on a park bench with my dc but my dh can share a can all day with his colleague.

I can't take my dc for a walk in the morning then go for a solo run in the evening, but my neighbours can have builders in all day.

But then I didn't make the rules.