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Why Not Try Guardianship and Save Money on Your Rent?

Guest Post from Global Guardians www.global-guardians.co.uk. 

January is probably the gloomiest month of the year and it’s come round again. We’re broke after Christmas, rail fares have gone up and the dreaded credit card bill for December has just arrived; prices in the supermarket are creeping upwards, and so are utility bills. How depressed does all that make you… 

Are you going to get a salary increase anytime soon which might help, and if you are, will it be meaningful enough to make a difference to your lifestyle? Could it help you to actually save some money to put towards a holiday, car, or even perhaps a deposit to get on the first rung of the property ladder? 

Unless you’re a whizzkid or lucky, the answer is probably not; so what’s the answer to getting your hands on some extra cash?

You could look for a new or second job; apparently a massive 1 in 5 of us do in January, but for some of us, there is a possible alternative to consider. Have you thought about vacant property guardianship as a means to save money on your rent and outgoings whilst performing the valuable service of protecting empty buildings. 

Sound interesting? Want to know what being a property guardian is all about? Read on…

Put simply, a property guardian is a working professional who protects a vacant building by occupying a shared living space in it under a non-exclusive licence agreement. In other words, you pay a monthly licence fee to live there full time, but legally it’s not classified as rent, so you are not officially a tenant, even though it seems similar.  The difference is you would have a minimum of 28 days’ notice to leave but if you are a guardian through a reputable company, like Global Guardians, they will help you find your next property if they can so you are not left homeless.

A property guardian does not act as a security guard in any way; it is simply that having someone occupying an otherwise empty building confers a degree of protection on it. It deters threats/risks to the property from vandals, thieves, trespassers and squatters… even kids who might think it a perfect place to use as a playground.  The guardian company look after the premises for you and are bound to check it over at least once a month to ensure there are no leaks, broken windows, or any other problems that affect the structural integrity of the building. They will also ensure the grounds around the property are also maintained. 

The key benefit for the guardians is that the licence fees they pay to live in their property are often significantly cheaper than normal rental prices in the surrounding area and sometimes include all outgoings.  This means you could afford to live in high cost parts of the city for much less per month and might locate you closer to your place of work which would also save you money on your travel costs. There are so many positives.

You share the property with other people, depending on its size, but would always have your own room/living space and share the other facilities, such as the kitchen.  Quite often there is a real sense of community with other like-minded people and in bigger buildings, they have grown their own fruit and veg in the gardens, or utilised some of the large space to do everything from practise their dancing, musical or singing abilities to painting their next masterpiece – one of the more surreal benefits to living in a large, empty property! 

If you want to know more, download our leaflet, click on the link, or give us a ring. We’ll be happy to answer any of your questions.

Check out Global Guardians Properties on Ideal Flatmate

Global Guardians Brochure PDF.

Global Guardians Website

More information, tel: 0203 818 9100