Homeowners 'should be careful' when renovating property abroad

 

Expats who have purchased a dilapidated property abroad in the hopes of fixing it up should be aware that such homes can contain health dangers.

According to Glen Irwin, sustainability director at Gifford, renovators need to be "very careful" when carrying out such improvement projects.

This will allow them to avoid health implications and having to make a claim on an expatriate healthcare insurance policy.

"You have to be careful when you do refurbish. You have got to think about what you are setting in place - try and pre-empt that you are going to have an air-quality humidity issue and then put other interventions in to deal with that.

"Otherwise you just end up leapfrogging problems, but not actually ending up with a very nice environment," he explained.

Damp and condensation issues are most likely to be present in hermetically sealed properties, so steps should be taken to deal with these.

Mr Irwin's comments were made at the Sustainability Now event on December 8th and 9th.

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