A POWYS Council tenant has received an apology after being sent a letter requesting access to her property while she was self-isolating.

A heating contractor working for the council wrote to the house tenant saying they needed to get into her property to survey the heating system – a request which made her "anxious".

Now the council has apologised for the mishap and insisted it is taking action to prevent it happening again.

Under the question at anytime process the council's chairman, Councillor Beverley Baynham, asked portfolio holder for economic development, housing & regulatory services, Councillor James Evans for an explanation.

Cllr Baynham, a councillor for Presteigne, said:  “Please could you explain to me why a housing tenant in my ward who is currently self-isolating has received a letter from Heatforce Wales Ltd requesting access to her property to survey the heating system in her house?

“In the letter there is no mention of any safe guards regarding Covid-19 and it states that access is needed to every room in her house.

“The letter made her very anxious and she informed me she did not want anyone in her property as she didn’t feel it was safe.

“Why are these letters are being sent at this current time?”

Cllr Evans replied: “Please accept on behalf of housing services my apologies for any distress this may have caused.

“I can assure you that we will make sure this does not happen again.

“The incorrect letter was inadvertently sent out and have now been corrected.”

The new letter, Cllr Evans explained, gives the tenant the option to reschedule the survey work for when Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted.

Cllr Evans added: “Heatforce is a contractor working on the council’s Welsh Housing Quality Standard programme.

“The contractor is experiencing a few organisational challenges at the moment with staff on furlough and the administration officer, who normally deals with Powys contracts, being on leave.”

Cllr Evans added that the focus of the work during the pandemic was on unoccupied “void” properties and where tenants are happy to have work done safely following all the “relevant guidance”.