Property owners nearly always get criticised for leaving their properties vacant, without considering the plight of the homeless. There certainly are plenty of unpleasant people around have little concern for the needs of others in the community. Why would anyone knowingly want to keep a property away from potential users? As the building begins to become dilipidated, your costs will increase and the potential returns will fall over time.
So if you are an owner, but no an occupier of a building, what can you do to protect it against a multitude of attacks? My reference to the word ‘attack’ is meant to imply both man-made and natural causes. Give yourself peace of mind by looking at a number of different ways.
The problems
When a property is vacant it is highly vulnerable to ‘attack’ from various groups of disparate individuals, including squatters and travellers and gypsies. It is fair to say that some properties have improved their condition as a result of being invaded by squatters, but the majority are worse. It is also a time-consuming and a stressful exercise to remove these people, who often have an expert understanding of their rights. How to having to find a cure for a problem that could have been prevented by considering the protection of your property?
The solution
The answer lies in deploying a decent level of vacant property security in the first place. You can go down one of two routes: hire a professional company or do it all yourself. A lot will depend on the size of the budget that you can realistically afford. When using a professional company, the areas that would receive high priority would be the windows. Security screens, manufactured from steel panels, are the industry standard and would require a super-human effort to compromise. Security guards, whilst adding to the budget, provide a visible deterrent and may justify the extra expense.
