Vacant Properties and how to protect them

MartinDomm October 17, 2023 0 Comments

There are any number of reasons that a property you own, or are responsible for may become vacant.

You might be refurbishing it, you might be looking for a new tenant, you might only have recently purchased the property and are in the process of moving your operations over.

Whatever the situation may be, void properties are unique in the security needs they have and are a magnet for certain crime types including theft, arson, and squatting.

In this blog we will examine void property security in more detail, examining how to better protect your property from harm and how void property security varies so significantly from other property security.

Why are vacant properties so at risk?

Any property where there is no obvious human presence is more attractive to thieves. The reasons for this are pretty obvious. Lower chance of being interrupted or caught and a lower risk of repercussions.

Unfortunately, this means that the moment you move out of your property, or it becomes empty for any other reason, the risks you face rise significantly.

Squatters are particularly keen on vacant property, utilising the lack of on-site security to gain access to the property and take up residence. Once in place, squatters can be very difficult to get rid of as they are well aware of their squatting rights and the legal process for removal can be long and expensive for the property owner.

Even if your property is empty, thieves may also still choose to target you, and will take any remaining fixtures with any value, even stripping wiring from the walls in some cases.

As you can clearly see, having the right security in place is incredibly important and this isn’t purely due to the threat of crime either. Void property CCTV will allow you to spot signs of weather damage and decay as well as criminal activity. It will let you know exactly when the time has come to arrange for a visit to the site in person or to arrange for repair work to be carried out.

Preserve your reputation in the community

If you are renovating a business site, and intend to begin or resume operations from the location in the future, the last thing you want to do is to annoy the local community.

A site left to neglect and crime is the fastest way to do exactly that and can have a noticeable negative impact on the property’s value overall.

It can also impact on the property prices of other property in the area, something that most certainly will not go down well with your neighbours and will also make it more difficult to sell your own property in the future.