In today's fast-paced world, where modernity often takes precedence, there's a growing appreciation for the historical charm and architectural beauty of British period properties.
As winter arrives, property guardians face dropping temperatures and increasing energy bills. Keep your space warm without overspending with these 10 tips:
Living as a Blue Door Property Guardian in the UK offers a unique opportunity to occupy and care for vacant properties while enjoying cost-effective living arrangements. While the primary focus of guardianship is security and maintenance, it doesn't mean sacrificing style and comfort. In fact, with a bit of creativity and resourcefulness, property guardians can turn their abodes into stylish and welcoming homes. In this article, we'll explore home decor and offer valuable decorating tips tailored to the property guardianship lifestyle.
Blue Door Property Guardians offer a unique living experience that has community at its hub. Community living can provide many benefits for people, including social interaction, a sense of belonging, a supportive environment, and opportunities for growth. By fostering a sense of community, Blue Door Property Guardians provide a safe environment where residents can thrive whilst carrying out their property security responsibilities.
Keeping your home safe is always at the top of everyone’s list. When looking to secure your home, it’s often a daunting task and many see it as an expensive one too. There are plenty of ways to secure your home on a budget and to keep those belongings safe. It doesn’t all have to be about bolts and fancy cameras, we’ve put together a few of our top DIY security tips to help you feel more secure.
Sensor lights by your front, back, side or any positioned door, are a great way to keep those unwanted guests out. You can pick up motion-sensor lights for under £20 to keep the boundaries of your home illuminated and safe. We know energy costs are constantly on the up, which is why solar-powered lights are a great option to keep those energy prices down too.
Now we’re not saying kit your home out like Fort Knox, that would cost a fortune! Hear us out on this one, a great option to act as a deterrent is dummy systems and alarms. Taking advantage of products that imitate real CCTV and alarms is an effective option if purse strings are a little tight at the minute. Certain dummy systems even come with LED-fitted lights to give them that extra layer of security.
This is probably the most important factor when it comes to keeping your home safe. Making sure your valuables and keys are out of sight is imperative to keeping your home secure. Remember not to leave things in plain sight, especially by windows.
If you’re lucky enough to have a garden, making use of things such as fences, bushes and your surrounding areas can be your first line of defence. Make sure your fencing is in good condition as any damaged areas or panels can give unwanted eyes a chance to scope out the area and possibly gain access.
Let’s make some noise. If there’s a path or driveway leading to your doors, laying gravel is a great tactic to deter burglars away. As it’s noisy to walk on, gravel can help alert you to people approaching your home before they arrive at the door.
There’s always the old trick of using dense and thorny hedges around your property to put intruders off. Don’t think anyone fancies a trip through thorns and nestles, do they? Top hedges ideas: holly, pyracantha and hawthorn.
These are just a few simple steps to make your home more secure without breaking the bank. We’re always giving out some tricks and tips on our blog and in our newsletters, you can sign up here to get them right to your inbox.
The cost of renting in the UK has been on the rise for several years and it doesn’t look like it’s going to slow down in 2023. According to finance gurus, Finanze, rents are predicted to sky-rocket once again by nearly 13%. So it’s no surprise that the constant rent increases are causing tenants to grow concerned.
One of the most significant factors catapulting rent prices in the UK is the shortage of rental properties available. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), reported that the number of available rental properties has fallen to its lowest level in nearly 20 years. Simon Rubinsohn, the chief economist of RICS, stated that ‘the overall tone of the latest RICS Residential Survey is understandably more downbeat than previously’.
The shortage of rental properties has put upward pressure on rents as landlords can increase prices due to high demand. This trend is heavily noticeable in some of the UK’s largest cities. For example, London’s rental market has seen increases as high as 27%, not to mention Manchester’s private rental increases of 20%! Tenants just simply can’t afford it as pay is not keeping up with inflation.
We know that times are tough at the minute and it’s not just rent prices on the rise, the cost of living is squeezing those hardest in the rental market. We are constantly updating our property portfolio with key workers, mature postgraduates and working professionals in mind. With new properties come new opportunities for property guardians with prices at least a third cheaper than rentals in the open market.
It’s not an easy task to find affordable housing, but at Blue Door, we’re always on hand to offer you help with accommodation if you meet our criteria.
Ahhh, the New Year. Plenty of people make resolutions of what they want to achieve, whereas others are more focussed on revamping their personal space! People’s homes are being scrubbed from top to bottom, and personal belongings are being sorted into piles of ‘keep’ or ‘throw’.
Except here at Blue Door Property Guardians, we don’t like to see people throwing their perfectly good personal items away, just because they might have received something better for Christmas. We also know that you can buy some great things from secondhand shops or websites to improve your home. Have you ever heard of upcycling?
Upcycling is the process of taking something ‘old’ or used and breathing some much needed life back into it. Whether that’s giving it a lick of paint, or just changing the purpose of it completely. Upcycling provides you with new projects, the opportunity to learn new skills, and opportunities to enhance your living space.
Upcycling is very beneficial for the environment too. As you’re giving a new life to something previously owned, the amount of materials and waste being sent to landfill is minimising. The production of new items is also slowed down, meaning greenhouse gases and other pollutants are decreasing too. Another great thing? You can keep these incredible new items for yourself or sell them for a little bit of pocket money. Win, win!
So, what can we upcycle? Here are some ideas…
Clothing rails can be a perfect addition to your living spaces and you don’t need to head to the shops to buy one brand new! Take a ladder, some screws, spare wood and some paint and voila! You have yourself a brand new addition to your home.
Clothing rails are great to show off your favourite pieces of clothing or to keep in your hallway to store your coats and shoes.
Have you had any new deliveries and received them on wooden crates? Or do you know somebody who has plenty of wooden crates that they don’t know what to do with? Keep them.
Wooden crates can be attached together and painted to create new shelving units of bookcases. You can choose the layout, the size and the design of how you want it to look. A perfect new place to store your favourite reads or most prized possessions.
Unless they really can’t be used anymore, don’t throw away your old buckets. Your old buckets can be transformed into the most gorgeous planters and new plant pots to redesign your garden.
Buckets come in all shapes and sizes, so you can really turn your thumbs green and start your own green corner!
Don’t know what to do with your old egg cartons? Sure, you can recycle them but you can also use them for your upcycling projects.
Egg cartons are great for storing those Christmas decorations after the festive season. If your decorations have personal value to you or are valuable in general, then you want to keep them in perfect condition for the next year without any damage coming to them.
Another great use for your old egg cartons is to keep them to grow some windowsill herbs. These are super convenient for your cooking and it saves you pennies on the shopping!
One person’s trash is another person’s treasure after all, right, Orinoco? So much joy can be brought back into second-hand items and with a little bit of TLC you can bag yourself a brand new addition to your home, or even make some pocket money for yourself.
You can get furniture such as sofas, chairs, drawers, wardrobes and more from second-hand stores or websites for a great price, and then the decision is yours for what you do with them. This is the perfect chance for you to be creative and create bespoke items where you can’t get anywhere else!
The list for upcycling projects is large and you can pretty much give anything a brand new life and purpose. Not only is upcycling great for the environment and you’ll be doing your bit, it is also cost-effective for you too!
We’d love to hear about your upcycling projects and what you’ve managed to achieve, so make sure you pop us a message with your new creations: admin@bluedoorpropertyguardians.co.uk.
Well, 2022 certainly had it all didn’t it? We were lucky enough to see two total lunar eclipses, the UK had countless Prime Ministers, and the incredible Lionesses finally brought football home. Now as much as the England Women’s team were goals galore, here at Blue Door we hit a lot of our goals too! Here’s a look back at our year and what we’re extremely proud to have achieved.
We’re big on making our team’s lives easier, in fact we’re huge on it. We created and implemented a brand new CRM system for all staff to use and tailor to their needs. It did involve a bit of data migration, but we’re not complaining now everything is up and running. It has allowed us to streamline our processes, giving us more time and flexibility to work with our Guardians and property owners. Win, win!
There is nothing worse than not knowing what you’re talking about. Here at Blue Door, staff training is always at the top of our Christmas list. We’re proud to have a team who are always keen to learn and progress, which is why we love organising training and staff development days.
Here’s a quick insight, one was all about LinkedIn and knowing how to utilise the platform for specific business needs. Safe to say it worked, with one of our members increasing their following by over 1,200. If you haven’t already, give us a follow on LinkedIn here (not at all a shameless plug!).
They say it’s not what you know, but who you know. Well, we guess we’re out of that old saying because we have both. Thanks to the team’s dedication and hard work, 2022 allowed us to build connections with huge organisations, some of which have over 70,000 properties in their portfolios and 300 sites across London.
We don’t like to slow down either, we’re part of over 20 industry-related groups and memberships to make sure we’re always in the know about all things property and guardianships.
If you’re signed up to our newsletter and have read our blog, then you’re bound to have seen the news about us being on the big screen. We were honoured and lucky enough to have been asked to work on Shelter’s 2022 Christmas TV campaign. We can’t stress enough the importance and incredible work this charity does. You can learn more about our involvement here.
Health and wellbeing has always been at the forefront of Blue Door and that didn’t slip in 2022, and will certainly continue in 2023. Our incredible health and safety team created, introduced and rolled out a brand new Safety Management System (SMS) to help manage safety risks. This allowed us to have structured processes for daily business functions and tasks. Our team even went that step further (like they always do!) and provided company-wide training and resources so everyone is aware of the new system.
If the past couple years have taught us anything, it’s all about having the procedures in place to offer flexibility for your team. One of our project manager’s opened up our flexible way of working for our property owners and Guardians too. By creating various resources such as presentations, slide decks and documents, it opened us up to a new virtual way of training, onboarding and communication.
Quite surprised we managed to narrow it down to just our top 6 achievements as 2022 really did spoil us. From everyone here at Blue Door, we wish you all the best for 2023 and whatever adventures it may bring. As always, if you have any questions, even if you just fancy a chat, our inbox is always open.
Whether you’re a small or big business, commercial insurance is always going to crop up. All the different types of insurance can get a little messy, which is why we’re going to do everyone a favour and break it down so we’re all on the same page.
In a nuts (and bolts) shell, commercial insurance is insurance that protects businesses against losses and claims for things like damage to property or injury to employees. It’s a general term covering various types of insurance, such as public-liability insurance, employer’s liability insurance and professional indemnity.
There is a huge commercial umbrella when it comes to insurance, and here’s the most common:
Commercial property insurance
Motor insurance
Tool and equipment insurance
Cyber liability insurance
Business interruption insurance
The insurance game isn’t an easy one to play. It’s hard knowing what insurance to take out and which one is right for your needs. There’s a few tips and tricks you can use to help make your decision. You should consider the following:
Does your business deal with members of the public?
What type of service or product do you offer?
Are you a sole trader or an employer?
Are you a limited or public company?
Do you have a premises for your business?
Do you use a vehicle or any special equipment for your business?
By answering those questions, it will help to give you more of a feel about what type of insurance you’re going to need. We’re going to dive into all things property insurance, after all property is our main player at Blue Door.
Commercial property insurance is a must have. This type of insurance makes sure you’re covered for any cost of repairing, rebuilding, or replacing stock/equipment on your premises.
What does commercial property insurance cover?
Burst pipes
Flooding
Theft
Fire
Weather-related damage such as fallen trees
Commercial property insurance can be broken up into four areas, all of which are essential when owning a property or premises for business.
Buildings insurance will cover the cost of repairing or rebuilding your premises if it is destroyed or damaged from events such as flooding or fire.
This type of insurance isn’t actually required by law, but we do highly recommend it. If you’re renting your premises, this insurance is your landlord’s responsibility - but we’d always double-check with the landlord to make sure this is in place.
Unfortunately, the majority of buildings insurance policies won’t cover you for things such as general wear and tear. So keeping those carpets in tip-top shape is down to you.
Contents insurance covers anything that is not physically attached to the building. For example stock and equipment, or if your premises is a home then valuables and goods such as furniture and electrical items. This insurance isn’t mandatory, but highly recommended to make sure your belongings are safe.
Similar to buildings insurance, this doesn’t cover wear and tear and the majority of policies come with value limits on your contents.
Pretty much self-explanatory this one. This is to cover any fixtures or fittings that aren’t deemed as stock or goods, but don’t belong to the building itself.
This will help compensate for any loss of rent or income due to the property being inhabitable and your tenants having to be moved out.
Remember, insurance and covers differ between different policies and providers, so it is essential to always check each policy. We’re always here to help anyway, feel free to email us on admin@bluedoorpropertyguardians.co.uk or give us a call on 02078594213 if you have any questions or need a bit more help in the insurance department.
You can also take a look at our Property Owners page to learn more about our guardianship offering.
Blue Door often has unusual, quirky properties, with super large unusual spaces that lend themselves to artists and makers. Because we support creatives we’re often approached by production companies who want to use our interior spaces for music videos, fashion shoots and even scenes for TV and film.
Recently we had the honour of collaborating with Academy Films to offer support for filming the Christmas appeal for Shelter, the Housing Charity. Here at Blue Door we stand by everything Shelter believes in and works towards, which is why we were extremely proud to have the opportunity to collaborate and offer the project location.
Shelter is a fantastic charity helping people in housing by providing advice, assistance and tirelessly campaigning for better investment, laws and policies in the housing sector. Since 1966, Shelter has campaigned for safe and affordable homes for all.
Their 2022 Christmas appeal titled ‘Brave Face’ shines an honest and hard-hitting light on the reality of struggles that many families will be facing over the next few months. ‘Brave Face’ tells viewers the story of a typical day for a young boy at school who shows resilience by smiling through a series of events including failing a written test, being last in the school canteen queue and missing out on pudding, and letting a goal in during a kickabout. As his (bad) day ends, the young boy goes home to be with his Mum, where the viewers then see and realise that they’ll both be spending Christmas in a noisy, damp bedsit. The final poignant message of the appeal reads ‘No child should have to put on a brave face…but without a home, over 199,500 children do’.
The housing crisis affects people throughout the year, but this Christmas the cost of living crisis is making housing problems worse for 7 in10 callers to Shelter’s emergency helpline. Seventeen and a half million people are trapped by the housing emergency, and (1 in 5 renters say their home is damaging their physical or mental health.
We fully pledge our support to Shelter (we have chosen Shelter as one of our Christmas Charity donations this year) and would like to encourage you to do the same. You can donate to the charity here, or you can show your support by sharing their campaigns and spreading the appeal to ensure everyone has access to a safe home.
Shelter runs various events for people to get involved in such as book clubs and walks. Guess what? You can also organise your own event to help raise money, awareness and support Shelter.
Our team at Blue Door are here to support you if you need any advice or assistance when it comes to affordable housing for key workers, working professionals and post graduates. We understand the importance and the necessity of having a safe and secure home and offer guardian opportunities if you meet our criteria. Please contact admin@bluedoorproperty guardians or phone us on 0207 859 4213.
Shelter - Brave Face
Directors - Si & Ad @si_ad_films
Agency - Don’t Panic @dontpanicldn
For a few years, I had been struggling to find a place of my own that I could afford and wouldn’t affect my budget. When I was looking online, I came across an advert to become a Property Guardian for Blue Door Property Guardians, which would allow me to live in a studio or a one bedroom flat.
After I registered to be a Property Guardian, my dreams came true. For the past year, I’ve been securing a one bedroom flat in Rickmansworth through Blue Door Property Guardians.
Due to a lower fee than the average rental asking prices, I was able to save more money and spend it on growing my skills, so I could better my career as a Plant Operator.
Along the way, I have met some very interesting people from a variety of cultures and made many friends.
I would recommend becoming a Property Guardian for Blue Door Property Guardians to professional individuals, who would like to climb a step in improving their life.
Sebastian Tipau-Tatarusanu
