As soon as you require your property back Guardians will be given 28 days to vacate the property, after which the building will be handed back, fully vacant, in its original state – if not better.  

The simple answer is no. Many of the properties we look after need a bit if work to get them ready for residential use, so DEX will install temporary facilities, including shower pods and portable cooking appliances where needed.

These are all temporary and will be removed before the property is returned. This is often done at zero cost to the client and our experienced team will aim to get most properties fit for guardians within 10 days of inspection.

DEX’s in-house team are able to turn most properties into habitable spaces for Property Guardian to live and thrive in. All that we ask is that a building is able to provide running water and electricity and that the property is water and windproof. DEX will do the rest.

DEX’s in-house team are able to turn most properties into habitable spaces for Property Guardian to live and thrive in. We have guardians happily living in a huge range of properties ranging from self-contained flats and houses, through to former schools, stately homes, office blocks, schools, pubs, care homes and even police stations.

Generally no. In most properties DEX will take on the costs of fitting out the building, so it is ready for residential use. This often includes installing temporary facilities such as shower pods, portable cooking appliances and other white goods.

Occasionally there might be costs that fall outside this remit, that the client would be expected to take on. But this would all be discussed with your Account Manager after the initial site visit.

No. You don’t pay any ongoing fees for either the security service property guardians provide, or the day-to-day maintenance of the property. In fact, in many cases, you can even receive a revenue stream from the guardians living in your building.

In many cases property guardians can provide a revenue opportunity to property owners. Depending on the size of the project, the location and other key factors, DEX offer cash back per Property Guardian in situ.

This is often paid as a percentage share of the fee payable by the occupying Property Guardian. An experienced DEX Account Manager will be able to offer a bespoke property protection proposal. In addition to reviewing how Property Guardians would best secure your empty building, it will also offer a breakdown of the proposed rebate and give an indication to the income Property Guardians would generate.

We generally ask that we have a property for a minimum of 6 months. This ensures that we cover the initial cost of getting the building ready for our guardians to live in.  

We do however have other options if you are looking for more temporary security solutions. We are able to offer a temporary guardians service or traditional security guards. Please contact the team on 0800 0855 994, as we will still be able to help you.

DEX Property Management are able to provide constant access to the property, helping to facilitate a more efficient planning and development process.

If the client or one of their own contractors, agents or representatives wants to gain access to the property this is always facilitated.

No, Properties guardians don’t have the same legal rights as tenants. Property Guardians sign a licence to occupy agreement rather than a traditional tenancy agreement. The key legal differences being;

We carry out a rigorous application process and extensively screen all of our property guardians before entrusting them to look after our clients’ property. Our thorough vetting process helps ensure we only place socially responsibly and reliable individuals who fully understand the responsibilities of caring for and maintaining empty properties.

We also carry out reference checks using a third party provider and check against the following;  

By living in the property, guardians ensure the building remains secure and protected against any vacant risks, 24/7.

They ensure the property looks visibly lived in, acting as a deterrent against any antisocial behaviour or would-be squatters – something unfortunately empty buildings can sometimes attract.

Property guardians also maintain and care for the property on a day-to-day. Should any maintenance issue crop up, they have 24/7 access to DEX’s in house maintenance team.

As well as the guardians, DEX is responsible for day-to-day and reactive maintenance of the property while it is in our care.

While major elements of work would remain the responsibility of the owner, DEX have an in-house maintenance team on-hand to carry out daily maintenance tasks. Where necessary DEX will utilise approved contractors to carry out specialist work, although we always take care to seek permission from the client before doing so.

DEX’s maintenance team are available 24/7, so in the unlikely event of their being an emergency, there is always someone available to assist.