Property guardians – the answer to squatters?
by David Carter on 09 February 2011
Property guardian schemes started a few years ago and, with the fall in the property market, have become increasingly popular as a way to protect both commercial and residential property from squatters, vandalism and general deterioration.
It can be a simple chain of events that leads to squatters – an unmended broken window, for example, shows a squatter that the premises are unoccupied, as well as providing easy means of entry.
There are several agencies operating in the UK now, matching potential guardians with property owners. The agencies interview and security screen the guardians and offer strict contracts with short notice periods; the maximum is usually 30 days, but most are much shorter. The contract will usually exclude children and pets and will limit parties and many group activities.
In exchange for accepting these terms, the guardian pays a very low rent. The owner gets his property occupied (probably saving a great deal on security systems and guards) and cared for. With the commercial and residential property markets both suffering in the current climate, there is a great deal of empty property around that can be protected in this way.
Having seen first hand the incredible damage that squatters can do, not to mention the costs involved in evicting squatters, it seems to me to be a practical and effective option.
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