A tenant moves out.
The property needs refreshing.
Someone walks through and starts making a list.
Replace the chair.
Replace the mattress.
Replace the microwave.
Paint everything.
Clear the old furniture.
Order new.
It's efficient.
But is it always necessary?
We've become very good at replacing things
Replacement is easy to understand.
Something looks tired, so a new version arrives.
But rental properties go through repeated cycles of occupation, cleaning, maintenance and changeover.
Multiply unnecessary replacements across several properties and suddenly you're talking about a significant amount of furniture, appliances, packaging and material.
So we're interested in introducing another question into that process:
Does this actually need replacing?
Sometimes the answer is absolutely yes
Sustainability shouldn't become an excuse for keeping something that is unsafe, inefficient or beyond sensible repair.
A damaged electrical appliance isn't a sustainability project.
Neither is furniture that has reached the end of its usable life.
Landlords remain responsible for keeping rented properties safe and meeting relevant safety obligations.
Responsible maintenance means knowing when something needs to go.
But it also means recognizing when it doesn't.
A chair can be cleaned
A table can be repaired.
A loose handle can be tightened.
A washing machine might be serviceable.
A wall with one damaged section may not require an entire room to be redecorated.
And furniture that no longer suits one property might work perfectly well somewhere else.
These aren't revolutionary ideas.
That's partly the point.
Sustainability in property management doesn't always need to begin with expensive technology.
Sometimes it begins with maintenance.
Preventing damage matters too
Consider a leaking pipe.
Deal with it quickly and perhaps you're replacing a washer or repairing a small section.
Ignore it and you could eventually be dealing with damaged flooring, plaster, decoration and furniture.
Good maintenance can reduce waste before the waste exists.
That's something we think deserves more attention.
Energy is still part of the conversation
Of course, the bigger questions matter too.
Heating.
Insulation.
Windows.
Lighting.
Appliances.
Energy performance.
Landlords are required to provide an Energy Performance Certificate where applicable, and the energy performance of a home can affect both environmental impact and the experience of the person paying to heat it.
Not every property can be transformed overnight.
Older London housing in particular can present practical challenges.
But improvement doesn't have to mean perfection.
Neither does sustainability
This is something we want to be careful about at Shokall.
We're not interested in putting a green badge on a property and pretending the work is finished.
Property has an environmental impact.
So does maintenance.
So do refurbishments.
So do the decisions made between tenancies.
What we can do is start paying more attention to those decisions.
Repair or replace?
Keep or discard?
Could this be reused?
Could we prevent this damage?
Could the property operate more efficiently?
Could we create less waste during the next changeover?
There won't always be a perfect answer.
But asking the question is a pretty good place to start.
For us, sustainability isn't about pretending every property is green. It's about trying to make the next decision a little more responsible than the last.
DISCLAIMER- THIS PHOTO HAS BEEN TAKEN FROM PINTEREST (BY BOB ELLEM)