We recently participated in Zero Carbon Moreland’s draught proofing initiative for residents of Moreland. We have done a lot of draught proofing ourselves but it’s always good to get an ‘expert’ eye cast over things. There were also I couple of things that we were unable to do without the necessary tools. We live in a single story terrace house which is over 100 years old. I’ve lived there about seven years and in that time have had no yearly property inspections. Any repairs are done extremely grudingly and only if the landlord considers them essential. Even the real estate agent calls him “a real tight ass”.

I made  an appointment for an installer to visit our home. The installer arrived promptly at the appointment time and I pointed out our front door as the area most in need of repair. We’ve tried blocking the top gap with wood but it makes it hard to open and close in summer when the wood swells. We constantly have a door snake against the bottom of the door otherwise dust and leaves can blow in!

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In the past we attempted to start our own listings service for environmentally friendly rental property and that didn’t really work…

Then we linked up with a US site, that didn’t really work either…

So imagine how happy we were when we came across a new Australian based service called ‘Green Moves’, who do exactly what you’ve all been asking for and much more! Green Moves not only list your sustainable property but also assess them (to current Australian standards) to create a reliable and consistent standard for listings across the site.

So if you’re a tenant looking for a new home, or a landlord looking to list your property to like minded tenants, then drop on by!

www.greenmoves.com.au

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August 3, 2010 by Carolyn Boyd,

As featured in Talking Property,Domain

The Age Newspaper

It can be desperate times if you are looking to rent something. Especially when vacancy rates are dipping under 2 per cent in some areas, such as Melbourne’s inner city and its outer reaches.

Even if you’re not too fussy, tight rental vacancy rates in many cities means the situation can be dire. So it’s not surprising that when we asked our readers what they had done to secure a rental property, more than one-quarter said they had offered more than the asking price, taking a punt that a landlord couldn’t resist some extra income.

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The annual Enviroweek is back again for 2010 and runs from 12th – 18th September.

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We’ve mentioned the Australian Federal government’s home sustainability assessments program regularly in the past on our website, in our workshops and at events. Whilst the program has changed since July 1st and is no longer offering loans towards any recommended improvements, the assessments are still available, still free and we heartily recommend them as a useful insight into your home’s energy efficiency.

Whilst we maintain a list of assessors we recommend in particular areas and don’t necessarily recommend any particular assessor over another, Green Return have started an associates program that means groups who refer assessments to them get a small commission, so not only do you get a free assessment, but you get help fund groups like Green Renters.

So, what do you need to do?
Simple, head to greenreturn.com.au/book-now and enter ‘GRS‘ into the referral code box when you book your assessment, and that’s it.

Thanks! Enjoy your assessment, it’s very enlightening…

Screw Light bulbs
Donna Green and Liz Minchin
ISBN 9781742580685
AUD$32.95

Attempting to navigate through the myriad of facts and figures pertaining to what is causing and what can be done about climate change is a business fraught with confusion, pitfalls and frustration.

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