Having a rental property of tenants could have a significant impact on the planet if you don’t make an effort to go the extra mile and make the living space as eco-friendly as possible. There is no planet B.
More and more tenants these days will want to live in a place that is set up for daily sustainable living practices, such as composting, recycling, saving energy, and so on. Here we have gone into more depth with a few handy pointers on how to create an eco-friendly home living space for your tenants.
Educate your tenants about sustainable home habits
If you have young student tenants, it could be the first time they have lived independently away from their families. So, you cannot expect them to know absolutely everything about how to run a home in a sustainable, eco-friendly way.
Take it upon yourself to educate tenants about sustainable practices they can follow at home. Stick up signs and notices around your property with information reminding them about different materials they can recycle, efficient energy usage hacks, and simpler things such as turning lights off when leaving a room. It sounds simple, but many tenants still forget to do it.
Do you have an HMO licence that allows you to house a large number of tenants from different households in your property?
Make sure you cover your back by taking out a robust specialist landlord insurance policy.
Encourage recycling
You can try to encourage tenants to recycle by leaving out a varied range of recycling boxes for different materials for them to use, such as tins and cans, paper, plastic, and cardboard. The local authority may have already provided recycling boxes themselves for your tenants.
Embrace eco-home technology and appliances
Want to furnish your rental property for tenants? First, check the energy rating of the appliances and home technology you want to get.
Install a green heat pump at your property, this device should limit your property’s carbon footprint and save you money along the way.
Low-flow shower heads
To reduce water wastage at your rental property, have low-flow shower heads installed in the bathrooms. It will still feel like a normal shower with adequate pressure, but using half as much water.
Smart meters
Smart meters help to maximise the amount of renewable power your rental property will use. So, installing a smart meter will make sure your property uses less and less fossil fuels.
Sustainable lighting
LED light bulbs use at least 75% less energy than traditional lighting and don’t contain nasty toxic chemicals. So, try only installing LED lighting at your property, and avoid using halogen, incandescent, and CFL bulbs.
Compost
Composting is brilliant for the planet and helps to keep the soil moist and full of nutrients. So, it is a smart eco-friendly move to provide your tenants with compost bins in both the indoor and outdoor spaces of your rental property.