Property Owner FAQs

Property Guardianship is an arrangement by whereby individuals secure empty property and are granted affordable accommodation in return for living flexibly. It’s a highly effective method for private landlords, housing associations and charities to better manage their voids.

Using property guardianship to secure your empty property is a highly effective method of providing security. You will save on empty property rates, and your insurance premiums will be considerably less than for a vacant property. In addition, your property will be protected against squatters and will not depreciate in value by being left to stand derelict for a long period of time.

We have a strict selection criteria to ensure that only the most reliable and trustworthy individuals act as property guardians. They are young professionals and, in most cases, key workers.

Our guardians go through a vetting process which includes face-to-face interviews, CRB checks, employment and housing references. Additionally, we only recruit guardians who are non-smokers and do not have household pets, or children.

The primary responsibility of a property guardian is to ensure the upkeep and protection of your property during the term of occupation. Guardians are required to undertake regular checks of the property and report any issues to us.

Our guardians are also required to adhere to Fire, Health & Safety guidelines which are provided by us at the start of each occupation.

Depending on the property type and length of time that it is handed over for, we usually do not charge a management fee. In some circumstances our service can actually be profit-making for the property owner.

We undertake regular site inspections and assign a head guardian at each property to act as a key point of contact throughout the term of occupation. Our site inspections cover all rooms inside the property in order to ensure the property is being well maintained and that the guardians are complying with our rules and regulations.

As part of our commitment to the owner of the property we provide a full management report on a monthly basis.

Guardians vacate with 30 days notice. Viewings, inspections, and renovations can be carried out at anytime whilst the property is under our care.

If you decide to proceed with our service, you would sign a legal agreement with Property Guardians authorising us to provide our services to provide security by occupation. We would then grant non-exclusive licences to our live in guardians allowing them to occupy and protect your vacant property.

Our legal structure ensures guardians do not acquire any Tenancy rights.

No, the primary use of the empty property remains the same. The role of the property guardians is to protect the property and in order for them to achieve this goal they need living space in the property. The living space is considered as ancillary use, so the primary use of the building never changes.

Property Guardians grants a Licence Agreement to the live-in guardian to occupy a room within your vacant property.

This is not the same as a tenancy agreement as we are supplying a service and the live-in guardians aid us in fulfilling this service. As such, no tenancy rights are granted to either Property Guardians or the live-in guardians who reside in the vacant property.

At the heart of our property guardian scheme is a commitment to provide the highest level of service when we protect your vacant property. In addition, our business is concerned with the wider issues around the housing crisis.

We aim to use any profits to eventually put into property helping homeless charities in London. Putting your property into use through security by occupation also helps combat ‘broken window theory’ and could retain the value of property in the area.

Our trusted house sitters service is perfect for home owners who want someone on hand to feed pets and look after their home while away on holiday. 

Other services we offer include on-site security services using SIA accredited guards. Our vacant property protection services include a maintenance and restoration service for property owners whose assets have fallen into a state of major disrepair.

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