myplace or yours?

myplace is a local estate agency that cares about climate change - and wants other agents to care, too.

myplace claims to be the first eco estate agent in the country and their message is simple: you can play an important part in reducing carbon emissions by as much as 40% and save money.

There's a downloadable buyers and sellers guide to ‘going green’ on their website - with a guide to sustainable, affordable living and great tips on how to save money on energy bills by making your home more energy efficient. Leading by example, the myplace offices have already made the following commitments:

- they will plant a tree for every home sold
- switched to a renewable energy supplier
- installed low energy fluro lights
- limit use of air conditioning/heating
- switch off all unnecessary lighting/fans, computers and printers
- use eco friendly paper
- recycle office waste
- source soy based printer inks
- adopted a new IT system to reduce myplace’s reliance on paper.

Estate agents seem to get a bad rep - money grabbing, profiteering, only out to make a quick buck. The managing director of myplace, Chris Kelly, is bucking the stereotype and in his role as and estate agent he wants to make a difference. Chris feels very strongly that somebody in the estate agency industry needs to take the lead on climate change and that's why he launched Take Stock, an ambitious, not for profit, industry campaign that's aimed at encouraging other estate agents to play a significant role in ‘greening’ the UK’s existing housing stock.

Property guru Chris Kelly has been in the business for many years and appeared in lots of trade and consumer publications as well as TV and radio but the current climate change crisis has prompted him to do more than just give his opinions!

He says: “The UK’s built environment accounts for nearly half the UK’s carbon emissions. Although the current government has introduced measures to improve the energy efficiency of existing housing stock, this only accounts for 1% of the UK’s built environment.”

Taking stock

The Take Stock campaign encourages estate agents to lead by example and provide both buyers and sellers with practical advice and information on how to reduce the carbon emissions generated by their properties.

This is not just hot air and window dressing either. myplace was one of seven nominees in the Guardian Green Awards as the UK’s only green estate agent. The agency is also certified carbon neutral through the company CarbonAided.

“All the staff at myplace believe very strongly in the campaign to green Britain’s existing housing stock. We have made a commitment to make our offices carbon neutral and do our utmost to help others to do the same.We are well versed in the steps required to become carbon neutral as we have undertaken them our selves, including moving towards a paperless office, implementing numerous energy saving schemes and investing in carbon offsetting programs to name but a few. We have also made the commitment to our clients to plant a tree for every home sold.”

According to Chris, “myplace believes that nobody is better placed to address this problem than Estate Agents. We have more contact with individuals and businesses making purchasing decisions than any other sector. By empowering our customers through the provision of expertise and information, we can play a major role in improving the performance of energy hungry buildings.

Support the campaign...

To support this drive myplace has started an online petition with 10 Downing Street’s website in order to generate discussion of the topic in the political arena. The petition is still in its infancy and requires 200 signatures in order to be a viable political tool so if you would like to see estate agencies taking more responsibility in this regard then visit the government website and sign the petition.