1. Our commitment
Xenith Property Group Ltd is a small, family-run lettings and property management company in Sheffield. People who live in the homes we manage, and people who work with us, have the right to be safe. We take the protection of adults who may be at risk and of children seriously, and we will act when we see signs that someone may be in harm's way.
2. How to raise a concern
- If someone is in immediate danger, call 999.
- For any other concern about a person's safety or wellbeing, email us at XenithPropertyGroup@icloud.com. Please put "Safeguarding" in the subject line. Your message goes to a director who acts as our Designated Safeguarding Lead.
- You can also contact Sheffield City Council's adult social care or children's services, or the police, directly. You do not need to go through us first.
Tell us what you saw or heard, when and where, and who is involved. You do not need proof and you do not need to be certain. We will treat what you tell us with care and share it only with people who need to know in order to help.
3. How we vet the people who work for us
We vet directors, staff, volunteers and contractors before they work in your home. Our policy is to carry out the checks that fit the role:
- Right to work checks for people who work for us, following current Home Office guidance.
- Identity, references and, where relevant, qualifications and insurance.
- DBS checks where the role is legally eligible. A basic check is available for any role. Standard or enhanced checks are used only where the law allows for that particular role. We do not run a check just because we would like one.
Checks are requested through an approved DBS provider or umbrella body. We may use an online provider in future, but no such arrangement is in place today, so our checks are managed manually.
4. Checks on applicants and tenants
We can carry out the same range of checks that screening providers such as uCheck offer, where they are needed and lawful. We do not hold a uCheck account, contract or accreditation. For applicants and tenants that means identity, Right to Rent (applied to every adult in the same way), references, income and affordability, a credit check with your consent, and, only in limited cases, a basic DBS check.
- Standard and enhanced DBS checks are not available for tenants or applicants, and we will not ask for one.
- A basic DBS check shows unspent convictions only. We ask only with your consent, only for shared accommodation or where a documented safeguarding need justifies it, and in the same way for everyone applying for that property. It is never a blanket ban, and any concern is looked at individually with a chance for you to explain.
- We do not ask about or consider spent convictions, and we never refuse someone because of a protected characteristic, because they receive benefits or because they have children.
Full details are on our page How we check applicants.
5. Mixed-sex shared houses
Many of our homes are shared houses. Our approach is set out in our Mixed-Sex Shared Housing Policy and includes:
- lockable bedrooms and bathrooms in working order;
- secure external doors and windows;
- notice before we enter a bedroom, except in a genuine emergency;
- room allocation based on availability and suitability, not on sex. The law allows sex-based allocation of shared accommodation only in narrow circumstances, and we take advice and record the reason before relying on it. Checks are never used to filter by sex;
- reasonable adjustments for disabled residents;
- a clear route for reporting harassment or feeling unsafe, and protection from retaliation.
6. Related policies and links
- How we check applicants
- Our published policies
- Safeguarding Policy, where it has been approved for publication
- Complaints Procedure
- Privacy Policy
Policies appear in the list only once they have been approved. If a policy is not yet listed, contact us and we will tell you where it stands.