Get your home and scheme shipshape and spring-ready | Tenant news

Keep Britain Tidy’s Great British Spring Clean, which encourages people to litter pick in their local area, starts today and runs until 29 March and, with spring on the horizon, we think it’s the ideal time to start cleaning and decluttering homes after winter.

As tackling a whole room in one go can be overwhelming, we recommend starting with small jobs, such as cleaning out your wardrobe, windows or your fridge freezer.

It could even double up as exercise if you turn on your favourite playlist and throw yourself into it for an hour, so here’s what we recommend you tackle.

Keep communal spaces tidy

It’s important that everyone tries to keep communal areas like stairwells, corridors and entrance hallways, clear of any objects. A clear hallway or corridor will allow you to get out of your home easily in an emergency, and it’ll help prevent flames from spreading if a fire breaks out.

So, unless we’ve provided a designated area for storage, nothing should be kept in any communal area. This includes rubbish, bikes, mobility scooters, unwanted goods or decorative items such as plant pots.

You can find out more about keeping your scheme’s shared spaces safe on our Communal areas web page.

Get ready for spring

As spring is just over a week away, you may be able to pack away cold weather items, such as thick jumpers, winter coats and boots, to create space and deter moths and stop dust from gathering.

Sorting out cupboards or reorganising shelves can also have a huge impact on your mental wellbeing as well as freeing up space in your home.

If you’re looking for low-cost or free furniture to store your items in a better way, try Freecycle, Gumtree, or Facebook Marketplace. If you have unwanted items, either sell them (try Vinted or Facebook Marketplace) recycle them or give them away to charity.

Be a litter hero

Meanwhile, our Neighbourhood Teams are always keeping watchful eyes on schemes to ensure they are safe, tidy and litter free. It helps to ensure everyone’s safety and wellbeing, and protect the environment.

Anyone can take part in the Great British Spring Clean by joining its year-round army of litter pickers. Find out more on the campaign website, where you can learn how to litter pick safely and submit your Great British Spring Clean pledge..

And if you have school-age children they can join in too.Last year, over 265,000 pupils took part in the Great Big School Clean via their schools, and events in their communities.

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