Top Tips to Enhance your Property’s Green Credentials

Over recent years, we have all been aware of the need to make green choices, reduce energy use and cut CO2 emissions to protect the planet.

With the Energy Saving Trust stating that approximately 22% of the UK’s carbon emissions come from homes, for any landlord looking to improve their green credentials, their properties are an excellent place to start.

Here are our top tips for making your rental property greener.

Top tips for Green Properties

1. Install renewable energy heating systems. This is a more expensive option for reducing your CO2 emissions. Still, solar panels, heat pumps and biomass boilers are becoming more popular as replacements for fossil fuel heating systems, and their efficiency will save money in the long run.

2. Install double or triple glazing and insulated external doors. Better glazing will help a property to retain heat, as will a good-quality door with integrated insulation. They are designed to be durable and last a long time while retaining heat means you will use less fuel for heating.

3. Insulate your property. With 25% of heat being lost through uninsulated roofs, insulating walls, floors, and roofs will significantly reduce your heating costs by preventing heat loss. And because it’s so effective, having insulation means you will enhance the benefits of other heat-saving initiatives.

4. Prevent draughts. Fill in cracks around doors and windows to prevent heat loss, and use draught excluders around doors if they can’t be replaced.

5. Install a smart meter. These are programmable, so you can better control when the heating is turned on and off. It means you can use less heating and will be more aware of how much you are using.

6. Use energy-efficient lightbulbs. Besides using less energy than regular lightbulbs, they also last longer and need replacing less often.

7. Don’t waste water. Dripping taps add to your water consumption, and even though it may seem insignificant, the water wasted adds up over a sustained period. Not only should we not waste water, especially if water shortages become a feature of climate change, but occupants will be charged for this wasted water if they are on a water meter.

8. Use environmentally friendly paint. Paint with zero levels of VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) content is environmentally friendly. Still, they are also better for our health because they contain fewer chemical compounds that cause harm when breathed in.

9. Use sustainable building materials. If you are renovating, repairing or building a property, choose materials that have been recycled, are sustainable and are sourced locally so that they will have a smaller negative impact on the environment.

Time to make a change

The UK Committee on Climate Change says that around £250 billion will need to be invested by 2050 to bring the nation’s housing stock up to date*** and that now is the time to start making that investment.

The good news is that there are many ways to improve our properties’ green potential so that we can all start taking steps forward, no matter your budget. In return, you’ll begin to preserve the environment and ultimately protect the planet’s atmosphere.

And as an additional benefit, these changes will add to the value of your property and its desirability to potential tenants who are also looking for a safe home that doesn’t cost them an arm and a leg to keep warm.

No Letting Go

If you are a landlord owning a rental property or an estate agent looking after properties on the owner’s behalf, find out how the local support and national network we offer at No Letting Go could become your inventory partner.

For more information about how we could streamline your costs and reduce your workload, contact our team of advisors at No Letting Go today.