A white paper published by a property guardian trade body sets out the legal and safety obligations for guardians and property owners. It has been issued by seven UK property guardian companies to inform and safeguard the interests of property owners and guardians.
‘The Law on Property Guardians’ details the legal status for guardians, compliance requirements and health and safety obligations that providers of property guardian schemes must meet. Written by a legal team, of a housing lawyer, a QC and a barrister, the paper sets out a minimum common standard.
Graham Sievers, spokesman for the group says: “The group has been meeting during the year to set up a property guardian providers’ association. First, the providers wanted to benchmark what is the current legal status of a guardian, and what the obligations are for the owners or management companies for premises being used to house guardians. This document, we hope, will help inform all stakeholders and support our aim to promote best practice across the industry, advocating that all legal and safety standards and regulations are adhered to, or exceeded, by property guardian providers.
“We want to ensure running a property guardians’ programme not only provides one means, albeit very small, to alleviate the pressure on housing, and also to help keep vacant properties secure through being occupied, but does so ethically and safely.”
The 40-page paper is available on the seven providers’ websites. Three key points are:
i) Health and safety requirements apply to all buildings where property guardians live, whether they are commercial, residential or other types.
ii) Fire safety, gas safety and any potential on-site hazards fall under the same regulations as tenants, and are enforceable by the same authorities.
iii) Property guardians sign-up as licensees, not tenants; two of the key differences include non-exclusive occupation of the premises and shorter notices to leave. In return, guardians live in low-cost accommodation.
The group commissioned housing lawyer, Giles Peaker, and a principal QC and barrister-in-law from Arden Chambers, Andrew Arden and Andrew Dymond.
Property guardian companies match up property owners who have temporarily empty vacant properties on their hands, with people seeking lower cost accommodation, but who can be flexible in their stay. Often, such properties’ living costs are around half that of similar accommodation in the private rental sector.
About the Property Guardian Providers’ Association:
Seven property guardian firms have been meeting during 2017 to discuss the issues within the sector and to explore setting up a property guardian providers’ association. The providers aimed to benchmark the legal status of a guardian, and what the obligations are for the owners or management companies for those premises being used to house guardians.
Ad-Hoc www.adhocproperty.co.uk
DEX www.dexpropertymanagement.co.uk
Dot Dot Dot www.dotdotdotproperty.com
Guardians of London www.guardiansoflondon.com
Live-in Guardians www.liveinguardians.com
Lowe Guardians www.loweguardians.com
VPS Guardians www.vps-guardians.co.uk
