On an island where many homes stand empty for stretches, the expensive leaks are the quiet ones nobody is there to hear.
An automatic shut-off valve is worth considering
If your home sits unused for weeks at a time, a whole-house leak detection valve watches the flow and closes the water automatically when it sees something that should not be happening. Most will alert your phone too. On a property you are not living in, it does the job you cannot.
In a villa it protects your neighbours as well
In a shared building a leak in an empty unit becomes somebody else’s ceiling, and often their insurance claim. That makes prevention rather more neighbourly here than it is in a detached house.
Grey pipe fails at the fittings
If your home still has polybutylene, leaks tend to start at the crimped joints inside walls or up in the attic. The first sign is often a stain rather than a drip you can trace, which is another reason a shut-off valve earns its place.
Before you leave for a while
Closing the main is the simplest protection there is and costs nothing. If irrigation or a caretaker schedule makes that impractical, an automatic valve is the sensible alternative.