Vacant Campus Building Security
Simon Finneran, Managing Director of Ad Hoc Property Management discusses how Estates Managers in the Education Sector can make significant savings when looking for vacant property security solutions.
As budget pressures and demands for efficiency continue to gain momentum, providing a cost-effective solution to property security is a key topic of discussion for facilities and estates managers in the education sector. Across the UK, sites are closing down for many reasons, most notably the need to cut costs, consolidating smaller schools into one larger site or for refurbishment.
The interim period that follows these closures, in which decision makers are faced with finding an alternative use or gaining approvals for the sale of the property, can take several months. In this time these buildings are susceptible to asset stripping, vandalism and illegal occupation (squatting) which often results in untold damage.
In mainland Europe an innovative security solution has been taking hold, and in recent years this initiative has been embraced by a number of local authority and private Estate Managers across the UK. The Ad Hoc Solution has already been chosen by more than 80 local authorities up and down the country covering assets such as schools, libraries, health centres and offices.
Working individuals are installed in disused nurseries, schools and university buildings across the UK to act as ‘live in security’. These individuals - ranging from key workers (including teachers and lecturers) to former military personnel or new graduates in their first jobs - are referred to as Property Guardians and are given the opportunity to live in unusual and spacious buildings for a minimal cost. In exchange they are tasked with protecting property from the threat of squatters, thieves, asset strippers and criminal damage, the idea being that a building is protected by occupation. All the while providing an affordable living solution to large groups of professional individuals.
The financial benefits of implementing a Guardian solution are highly favourable among estates managers, especially when those savings can be put to better use. The opportunity to reinvest funds from school closures into the education system or future infrastructure plans would be welcomed with open arms by local authorities and academies across the country.
Expense
The option of installing security guards, while effective in some cases, can incur large costs, for example boarding up and hiring security guards for a 2,000 square foot property for six months would cost around £48,000. This figure is less than ideal given that the majority of local authorities and academies are looking to make savings.
Unwanted visitors
Vacant buildings are regularly targeted by squatters, and in all cases damage and vandalism will occur. In some cases this may be a single individual, but in the majority of cases, mass groups of squatters target a property. Due to the size and space available as many as 200 individuals have been found living in disused offices and school buildings at any one time.
In September 2012, section 144 of the LASPO (The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012) made it a criminal offence to trespass in residential properties with the intention of living there. Squatting remains ‘legal’ for non-residential buildings – meaning that the police are in no way required to remove or prosecute individuals for trespassing and staying in non-residential properties, including schools.
To remove individuals from a non-residential property, the owners must raise this as a civil matter with the courts, which can be a lengthy and costly process.
Protecting a property from illegal occupation before the damage is done is the most effective method; the initial solution is to deploy traditional security methods. Sourcing an alternative to conventional security solutions is becoming increasingly popular among estate managers.
Asset stripping
Vacant buildings are often left with all electrical and plumbing intact, which is a huge draw for criminal activity.
Metal theft has been happening for as long as there was metal to steal, and vacant properties are a perfect source for thieves looking to strip wiring and piping from a building. The stolen wiring and piping is then sold on to scrap metal dealers. Not only is this practice completely illegal, but often dangerous. In some cases, the power remains live to buildings; when thieves break in to steal wires they unknowingly cut through a live wire and electrocute themselves, resulting in severe injury or death.
The requirement to protect a building against this kind of activity is paramount, not only in protecting the structural integrity of a property but in preventing harm coming to opportunistic thieves. Installing a Guardian at a property ensures that while restorative work is being done, equipment is left intact and the risk of fatality is minimalised.
Community benefit
School and University buildings by definition provide a service to the community; when that site is closed, the service does not necessarily have to stop.
The onset of anti-social behaviour as a result of vacant buildings can have long-term, negative effects on the surrounding area and wider community. Local authorities have sometimes suffered the brunt of local complaints and negative media in respect of local resources being removed – by repurposing the buildings the blow to the local community is softened and negative feelings are reduced.
By utilising this empty site as cost-effective housing, the wider community is not only encouraged by the prospect of additional housing, but can see that the building is being lived in – deterring anti-social behaviour and criminal activity.
Case in point
When Charlestown Primary School, in a deprived area of Salford, was closed in 2011. Salford City Council decided to use this property as a trial run for Property Guardians, as part of an ongoing re-evaluation of its education protection regime. Situated in a high crime area, and a potential magnet for break-ins, vandalism and degradation of the asset, this property was a perfect candidate for the trial.
An enthusiastic team of Ad Hoc Guardians was recruited, placed within the visible and vulnerable parts of the property to highlight occupation of the building as a deterrence to criminal activities. Guardians have been responsible for preventing numerous theft and break in attempts as well as identifying various maintenance issues that could have caused serious damage if gone unnoticed.
“The scheme has been extremely successful, and is now the first measure to be considered when we are planning on closing a property.
“Our vacant property budget has been slashed to virtually zero, and the buildings have been kept in a good standard whilst we make decisions about the future of our estate.” Deborah Keelan MSyI Dip, Project Manager (School Security and Premises).
Outside the box
To summarise, in thinking outside the box, estates and facilities managers can make significant savings by exploring alternative security solutions. In preventing sites from becoming vacant and falling into disrepair the value of the building is maintained, local communities rest easy and financial savings can be redirected into more worthy causes. It really is a case of prevention is better than cure when it comes to securing largescale assets or small units – and with the positive spin-off where folk get a home at a fraction of the price pegged by the commercial market.