There are many different ways to be an ethical landlord in this day and age. For starters, ethical landlords are often conscientious enough to maintain landlord insurance or attend to tenant maintenance concerns in a timely manner. Ethical landlords can also be counted on to stay compliant with fair housing laws, ensuring that their properties are always leased out fairly and that their existing tenants can live comfortably and securely. And then there’s green leases, a novel and exciting way to practice ethical landlordship today.
But what exactly are ‘green leases’? We’ll be answering just that question today, by exploring the concept in more detail, as well as outlining just how landlords can transform all of their rental properties into sustainable green leases for their tenants to enjoy.
A working definition of the ‘green lease’
At its simplest definition, a ‘green lease’ is a tenanted property that has been designed to reduce that property’s overall environmental impact. Green leases typically include eco-friendly features like solar panels, energy-efficient lighting, heating, or plumbing systems, and perhaps even a garden space with composting facilities for tenants to ethically dispose of their household food waste.
There’s no legal definition of a green lease as of yet, nor are there special parameters for green lease agreements. Because of this, there is really nothing stopping every landlord from making some eco-oriented alterations to their rental properties. You don’t need to go the whole hog here either. Even just incorporating one or two eco-friendly features can make your rental feel like a haven for sustainability-oriented tenants.
The benefits of offering green leases
The question that many landlords may have on their minds right now is whether or not there are any financial benefits to offering green leases. After all, these properties are basically just regular leases anyway, and must adhere to the same rental requirements of regular leases. So what are the actual benefits of investing in the greenification of your property portfolio?
The primary benefit is that green leases are attractive to tenants, particularly tenants who are looking to lay down their roots, so to speak. With more focus on sustainable (and perhaps even self-sustaining) living than ever before, more long-time renters are looking for properties where they can feel free to cultivate the land that they occupy. And evidence of this growing demand for green spaces can be seen virtually everywhere, from inner city apartment dwellers to property booms in rural areas following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Green leases that are fitted out with solar panels and energy-efficient fixtures will also help tenants keep their utility costs down. This opportunity to save big is yet another reason why green leases can expect longer tenancies than your run-of-the-mill rental properties. That, and these premium property features may provide you with fair reasoning to increase rental rates whilst still advertising exceptional savings potential for prospective tenants.
One final benefit to keep in mind for any who are looking to take on the helm of ethical landlordship, is that maintaining green leases naturally requires more communication and collaboration between tenants and their landlords. As you and your tenants are likely to be on the same page when it comes to maintaining the property, landlords that offer green leases may find their relationships with their tenants to be slightly improved when compared to those offering standard leases. And positive landlord-tenant relationships are truthfully beneficial for both parties.
How to transform your rental property into a green lease
Now that we’ve showcased all the benefits and advantages of offering green leases, your next question may be how exactly you can transform your existing rental properties into sustainable green leases. If you’ve been paying attention thus far, you’ll know that turning any rental property into a green lease is actually a fairly simple process. All you need to do is figure out exactly which green features you’d like to incorporate into each property in your portfolio.
For many landlords, adding garden facilities like a compost bin or a small tool shed can be easy and low-cost inclusions to make. You may even decide to install a small rainwater tank to make garden maintenance even more sustainable.
As for inside the home, swapping outdated light bulbs for energy-efficient LEDs can also be a low-cost change that improves the overall sustainability of all your rental properties. Similarly, swapping out kitchen appliances for more energy and water-efficient alternatives is also a good foot forward, as is swapping out any outdated kitchen taps and showerheads.
If swapping out appliances isn’t a feasible option, then installing solar panels on the roof of your property can help ensure that a portion of that property’s energy usage is always going to be carbon neutral. You may be able to secure solar panels on a payment plan that allows homeowners to sell excess energy back to their local electricity grid for a profit. Be sure to look into these details to determine whether or not investing in solar is the right move for you.
Tenant responsibilities for maintaining green leases
So with all of these sustainable investments made, landlords may be wondering exactly where tenants fit into the picture, especially when it comes to maintaining the new features and facilities provided in your green lease. The good news is that existing tenant responsibilities actually do work to ensure that your property’s green amenities stay in good shape.
Long-time landlords would know all too well that tenants are contractually obligated to leave the property in the same or similar condition it had been in at the beginning of their lease agreement, with changes due to general wear and tear aside. Because of this, tenants are obligated to ensure that your green features and facilities are also kept in good condition, as they would’ve been in good condition on the day they moved in.
Landlords may also find that in most instances where green leases are offered, many tenants will actually want to do their part, as they themselves can greatly benefit from cultivating the property’s garden spaces and keeping water consumption and energy usage as low as possible. In other words, the work that goes into maintaining your green lease is going to be both highly rewarding and also fairly minimal, in the grand scheme of things. All you really have to do is let your tenants enjoy the green haven you’ve created, and collect the rent cheques as they come in every month.
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All things considered, offering green leases can provide landlords and tenants alike with plenty of benefits, ranging from the opportunity to rent your properties out at a higher rate, to enjoy longer than average tenancies, and to cultivate positive landlord-tenant relationships.
For more information about green leases, read over this guide provided by the Australian Government’s Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency. Keep in mind that definitions provided in this guide may differ from those in your own region, so be sure to conduct your own research on green leases where possible.
