Rising Trend Of Property Guardians

Posted on September 9, 2011 by editor
Posted in Property Related Posts, UK Property Market Comment Tagged Guardians, property, Rising, trend

Due to the recession and the rising cost of renting a property the trend for property guardians has more than doubled in the last year alone. Many property guardians are not students, as we are often led to believe, but in fact ex servicemen from the police or fire service, or indeed just regular professional working people.

For those who don’t know what a property guardian is, it’s where you get very cheap rent with all bills included in return for taking care of an empty building by living in it. There are some rules of course, which I will go into later.

Since the recession and downturn took hold there has been an increase in the availability of vacant property. Two thirds of all ‘guarded’ property is now commercial.

More owners are understanding the benefits of having a property under guardianship rather than allowing it to lie empty. For example, when properties are listed as empty, it is difficult and costly to prosecute any unwanted guests who squat in the property, because the squatters can claim a legal process and have certain rights.

The great thing about employing guardians is that they offer protection of the property without the need to apply for a change-of-use consent. In this way the building still qualifies for empty property rates which represents a significant saving to the owners.

Empty properties are also prone to vandalism and theft of valuable pipework or fittings along with other potential damage. The building boom of the last few years has created a glut of empty properties when developers ran out of funding to continue their projects. It’s also possible for property guardians to apply for properties in Europe too.

However, for those that are willing to live a little more spartan existence for a short term, it can be a very practical and quick way to save money to buy or rent your own place, if that is your goal. Rents for guardians can range anywhere from £25 per week up to about £100 and this includes all bills!

Consider this, if you are working towards saving for a place of your own, could you save more if your expenses were radically cut? how long would you be prepared to live a more basic existence if it meant saving towards something you really want.

Property guardian companies seek out empty properties and offer their services to supply guardians. Larger properties will have several guardians looking after the building.