Property Guardians Explained: What You Should Know

PILC’s Pippa Hill sheds light on the rights of property guardians

Property guardianship is a form of private accommodation where occupants live in buildings that are not being used. Introduced in 2001, after the expansion of two Dutch companies from the Netherlands, property guardian companies were established in the UK as an anti-squatting measure to keep empty buildings facing demolition secure before being converted into commercial buildings. This security was provided by having property guardians who lived in the building.

As of 2017, there were around 5,000 – 7,000 property guardians in the UK. However, this is a fast-growing type of accommodation, with 600,000 people applying to be property guardians in 2018 alone. Currently, it is estimated that there are over 13,000 property guardians living in the UK.

Although presented as a sustainable solution to the housing crisis, there is a lack of national data about property guardianship, where the market can also be characterised by poor conditions and insecurity.

Increasingly, homes on estates earmarked for demolition are let to property guardians once existing residents have been decanted.

Legal protections?

While useful for short-term housing and cheaper rent, property guardian companies do not offer the same legal protections as standard rental agreements in England. Property guardians occupy premises under either a licence agreement or an Assured Shorthold Tenancy, both of which confer differing levels of legal protection.

Licence agreement

A property guardian may have a licence agreement with the property guardian company. This is a contractual agreement that allows you to occupy a property temporarily in exchange for a fee.

Unfortunately you are not a tenant. You are housed as a licensee. A license agreement is distinct from a tenancy, because you do not have exclusive possession over the property, meaning you can be asked to vacate at short notice. To check whether you have a license or an assured shorthold tenancy, review your agreement and see whether you have a shorter notice period (28 days) and if you have the right to prevent others from entering the premises without your permission (exclusive possession), which indicates that you are a licensee.

Hunter and Meers outlines 3 central criteria that determines a tenancy rather than a licence. To be a tenancy the property guardian must be a) paying rent b) for a period and c) have ‘exclusive possession’. Property guardians pay a fee every month, albeit called a ‘license fee’ rather than ‘rent’, and so the first two of these conditions are met. ‘Exclusive possession’ is less clear. It might involve, for example, having a lockable bedroom to which the property guardian alone has been issued keys. There is some disagreement about whether the common clause in property guardian licenses allowing companies to inspect building and rooms without notice prevents ‘exclusive occupation’ as is generally claimed by guardian companies.[1] Caselaw[2] has established that weight is given to what happens in practice rather than the written terms of an agreement that matters.

Differences between a licensee and a tenant

• 28-day notice period for the property guardian to vacate the property.
• Some property guardian companies require guardians to have a ‘move-on plan’, a viable alternative accommodation option for when they give them notice.
• Other people can go into your room without asking, conducting unannounced inspections.

Conditions

A license comes with specific conditions, such as guardians must:

• Live without any children under 18
• Live without any pets or animals
• Demonstrate an annal income or savings of 30x the monthly license fee
• In some cases, property guardians are required to volunteer with organisations chosen (at least 12 hours every month) by the property guardian companies like Dot Dot Dot Property.

Health & Safety

As a property guardian licensee, you can report any health and safety concerns, such as damp and mould, to your council. The council must take action with your landlord to fix problems and can even take legal action against them if they find serious problems.

Assured shorthold tenancy

Alternatively, you may have an assured shorthold tenancy. This is likely if you rent a specific room and have a lock on your door or have lived in the same room for a long time.

There are two types of assured shorthold tenancy: a fixed term agreement or a periodic rolling tenancy. For property guardians, your landlord likely decides the duration of your tenancy (fixed term agreement), or they may allow you to stay without signing a new agreement (periodic tenancy) according to when the building will be demolished.

Health & Safety

As a property guardian tenant, you can report any health and safety concerns, such as damp and mould, to your council. The council must take action with your landlord to fix problems and can even take legal action against them if they find serious problems.

Eviction

If your landlord wants you to leave, it is essential to check what type of agreement you have with the property guardian company. To do this, you can email your property guardian company to confirm whether you are a licensee or tenant, or you can review your property guardian agreement, sent at the beginning of your stay in the property, and consider the points raised above in relation to determining if you have a license agreement or tenancy.

Under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977, property guardians have the right not to be unlawfully evicted (Part I, s1 and s3) and the right not to be subjected to harassment by a landlord or licensor (Part 1, s1)[SO3] . As a guardian, you can enforce those rights by bringing proceedings in the local County Court. If you are being harassed by your landlord, you may have grounds for a claim under the Act[SO4] . Additionally, property guardians can contact their local authorities to protect their rights, such as contacting your local MP, your local housing advice centre, or Citizens Advice.

Renters’ Rights Act 2025

From 1 May 2026, new protections under the Renters’ Rights Act will come into force. If you have an assured shorthold tenancy, your landlord will need a legal reason to evict you with a section 8 notice.

Additionally, now you will need to give at least 2 months’ notice, rather than 1, to end a periodic assured tenancy.

Are you a Property Guardian on an estate?

Across council estates in London, property guardianship is commonly used to deter squatters from occupying empty flats in the lead up to an estate’s demolition and redevelopment.  

As property guardians, you have a right to participate in what’s happening in the estate and to get involved in campaigning against demolition if you wish.

However, we are aware that property guardians who have engaged in the planning process by raising objections to the planning application consultation have been contacted by their property guardian company and asked to remove their comment.  You have a right to engage in this public consultation process.

Precarious living

The Public Interest Law Centre understands the precarious living property guardians endure. Although we don’t offer legal representation to property guardians, we hope this guide provides you with more information about your legal rights.

Further information

If you are interested in further reading about this topic, you can check out:

The law on property guardianship. A white paper setting out the health, safety and legal status of security through occupation published by Property Guardian Providers Association, by Giles Peaker, Partner, Anthony Gold Solicitors; Andrew Arden, QC, Andrew Dymond, Barrister, Arden Chambers

Property guardians: Headline report, June 2022, published by Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (now called Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Property guardians: guidance, April 2022, published by Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (now called Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Rights of property guardians, Shelter

[1] Hunter, C. and Meers, J. G. (2017.) Property Guardianship in London: A report produced on behalf of the London Assembly Housing Committee. York Law School, University of York, UK. p26

[2] Aslan v Murphy (No 1) [1990] 1 WLR 766