- London’s private rental market is experiencing unprecedented highs, with average monthly rents exceeding £2,300.
- Over 8,000 people are now living in vacant buildings across the capital, including offices, police stations, and disused pubs.
- Rental prices in London have risen 42% since 2020, far outpacing the national average, while housing supply has stagnated.
- Property guardianship firms have expanded rapidly, managing over 1,200 sites across England, with most in London.
- The number of property guardians in England has more than tripled since 2021, with average guardians paying £500-£800 per month.
As London’s private rental market reaches unprecedented highs, with average monthly rents now exceeding £2,300, a growing number of residents are abandoning traditional tenancies for unconventional alternatives. Property guardianship—once a niche option for artists and freelancers seeking cheap, edgy spaces—has surged into the mainstream, with over 8,000 people now living in empty offices, decommissioned police stations, and disused pubs across the capital. This shift reflects not a lifestyle choice but a survival strategy, as soaring housing costs outpace wage growth and available social housing dwindles, forcing Londoners to trade stability for affordability in underused urban infrastructure.
Surge in Guardianship Placements Amid Housing Shortfall
Data from the Greater London Authority shows that rental prices have risen 42% since 2020, far outpacing the national average, while housing supply has stagnated, with only 22,000 new units completed in 2025—well below the estimated 50,000 needed annually. In this vacuum, property guardianship firms like Keys2 and Liquide have expanded rapidly, managing over 1,200 sites across England, more than half of them in London. According to a 2026 report by the Office for National Statistics, the number of property guardians in England has more than tripled since 2021, with the average guardian paying between £500 and £800 per month—less than half the market rate for a studio flat. These arrangements are often facilitated through private security or property management firms, which lease the buildings from absentee owners or public bodies to prevent vandalism and maintain insurance compliance. While not legally classified as tenants, guardians are contractually required to vacate with as little as 28 days’ notice, a condition that underscores the precariousness of their living situation.
Key Players: Firms, Landlords and Public Institutions
The property guardianship industry is dominated by a handful of private firms that act as intermediaries between vacant building owners and residents. Keys2, one of the largest, boasts over 4,000 guardians nationwide and has partnerships with local councils, NHS trusts, and commercial landlords seeking low-cost building maintenance. In some cases, public institutions have actively offloaded underused assets: Transport for London, for example, converted a disused ticket office in Brixton into a 20-person living space in 2025, while the Metropolitan Police decommissioned three central London stations for temporary housing use. Developers also use guardians to ‘activate’ sites during planning delays, such as the stalled redevelopment of the former Royal Mail sorting office in East London. Critics, including housing advocacy group Generation Rent, argue that these arrangements allow public bodies and private investors to avoid long-term housing solutions while profiting indirectly from the crisis. Meanwhile, guardians themselves are increasingly diverse—no longer just students and creatives, but nurses, teachers, and gig workers priced out of conventional rentals.
Trade-Offs: Affordability Versus Security and Rights
Living as a property guardian offers significant cost savings, but at the expense of legal protection and housing stability. Guardians are not covered by the same rights as tenants under the Housing Act 1988, meaning they lack recourse against sudden eviction, rent increases, or poor maintenance. A 2024 investigation by BBC News revealed cases where guardians were displaced overnight due to redevelopment timelines or owner decisions, often with minimal support. Additionally, many guardianship buildings lack basic residential upgrades—shared bathrooms, inadequate heating, or poor insulation—raising concerns about health and safety. Yet for many, the trade-off is worth it. As one guardian in a former psychiatric hospital in Peckham told The Guardian, ‘It’s cold in winter and the showers are down the hall, but I’d rather live here than pay £1,800 for a box room in Zone 3.’ The model benefits owners too, who avoid costly security patrols and building decay while awaiting future development.
Why Now? The Tipping Point in London’s Housing Crisis
The rise of property guardianship as a mass housing solution reflects a broader collapse in London’s rental affordability, accelerated by post-pandemic market shifts, foreign investment in buy-to-let properties, and chronic underinvestment in social housing. Since 2020, the proportion of Londoners spending over 50% of their income on rent has climbed to 38%, according to Trust for London, while housing benefit rates have failed to keep pace with market realities. The crisis deepened in 2025 when interest rate hikes made homeownership inaccessible to first-time buyers, increasing demand in an already strained rental sector. At the same time, remote work trends have left thousands of commercial spaces vacant, creating both a problem and an opportunity. With local councils under pressure to reduce urban blight and provide emergency housing, property guardianships have emerged as a politically palatable stopgap—despite concerns they normalize temporary, insecure living as a permanent condition.
Where We Go From Here
In the next 12 months, three scenarios are likely. First, the expansion of regulated guardianship schemes, possibly backed by local authorities, could formalize standards for safety, notice periods, and resident rights. Second, if housing construction accelerates and rent controls are introduced, demand for guardianships may plateau or decline. Third, without structural reform, guardianships could become a de facto tier of urban housing, especially as commercial-to-residential conversions gain planning approval. The outcome will depend on whether policymakers treat this trend as a temporary anomaly or a symptom of systemic failure. Pilot programs in Manchester and Bristol are already testing hybrid models that blend guardianship with community land trusts.
Bottom line — while property guardianship offers immediate relief for London’s housing crunch, it risks institutionalizing insecure, low-rights living for the city’s working class unless accompanied by sweeping regulatory and housing supply reforms.
Source: The New York Times