Renting now costs more than it has in years, and many people are looking for a cheaper way to live. One option is growing quietly in the background. Property Guardian schemes lets people move into empty buildings for a lower monthly cost, while keeping those buildings safe and looked after. Ad Hoc Property Management, which has run guardian schemes across the country for two decades, says more people are asking about it as the cost of renting bites.
Two Decades Of Unusual Buildings
The demand comes as Ad Hoc reaches 20 years of looking after vacant and unusual buildings around the UK. Over that time it has placed Guardians in former courts, hospitals, historic pubs, serviced apartments, residential blocks and large regeneration sites, a range few in the sector can match.
That track record sits behind the firm’s vacant property management work, and some of its most striking sites once served the public.
A Former Magistrates’ Court In Bridgwater
Between 2016 and 2018, Ad Hoc managed a former Magistrates’ Court in Bridgwater that housed 12 Guardians. People lived in old courtrooms and witness waiting rooms, giving a historic building a new use while it stood empty.
Clitheroe Hospital
At Clitheroe Hospital, 20 Guardians each had their own former ward or suite, with many of the original features still in place when they moved in.
The Crown In Birmingham
Ad Hoc manages and secures The Crown, a well-known Birmingham pub where Black Sabbath played some of their earliest shows. The former serviced apartments next door are now home to Guardians, a good example of caring for a building with strong local and musical history.
A Quick Response When Homes Are Needed Fast
Property Guardianship is not only about saving money. It can also put a roof over people’s heads at short notice.
During COVID-19, Ad Hoc managed a property able to house 50 Guardians and used it to accommodate nurses and hospital staff arriving in the country to support the NHS. Each group stayed for their first six weeks, with licence fees paid by the NHS. The site ran across three rounds and housed around 150 healthcare workers in total.
Keeping Regeneration Sites Occupied And Secure
For large owners, guardianship is a practical way to protect sites during long building programmes, and it sits at the heart of Ad Hoc’s guardian property management service.
Ad Hoc works with Barnet Homes, a large housing association in London, and has managed around 600 flats over the past nine years as part of its regeneration work. Empty blocks are filled with Guardians until demolition, then those Guardians move to the next suitable block as the project moves on. This keeps flats occupied, secure and managed right up to the point they are pulled down.
More Than Just A Place To Stay
Living in a shared building often brings people together. Friendships and relationships have started in Ad Hoc properties over the years, and a few have gone further still, with some Guardians going on to marry partners they first met as neighbours.
For many, Property Guardianship offers something renting can struggle to match, a lower cost of living, an unusual home and a ready-made community. Ad Hoc currently has guardianship properties available for people who are 21 or older, in regular work and ready to look after a building as their own.
About Ad Hoc Property Management
Ad Hoc Property Management has spent 20 years protecting vacant buildings across the UK, providing affordable, temporary homes for Property Guardians. The company works with public sector bodies, housing associations and large property owners to keep empty sites occupied, secure and well managed, from single historic buildings to large residential portfolios.