Her "unit", which includes a kitchenette and living area, costs just £300 a month. She said: "Sometimes when I'm coming up the long drive I have to pinch myself as it's hard to believe I actually live here in a place as amazing as this." Also living in the manor are a doctor, who is head of radiology at a nearby hospital, and a 71-year-old retired teacher. The residents cook for each other sometimes and act as a community, helping each other out where needed. Typically rooms cost £200 to £350 a month including bills, less than half of the average UK rent which stood at £746 a month in April. Property guardians stay in empty properties for months or years, while the building awaits planning permission or waits to be converted into something else. Tenants can expect to share with as many as 20 other residents and are asked to leave at short notice once a project is ready to commence. Andy Stanton, marketing manager at Global Guardians, a property guardian firm, said: “People often have a perception of guardianship as professional squatting, but that’s very different from the reality. It’s now very normal for professionals including barristers, people who work in government, and even retirees taking part in schemes.”
An increasing number of professional and middle-class people in the UK are becoming property guardians in mansions, stately homes, and other buildings that are awaiting planning permission or conversion. The UK's biggest guardian agency, Camelot, reports that 42% of its guardians are aged 35 to 65. In a recent survey by estate agents Savills, more than half (54%) of those surveyed said they were looking for someone who could help them with their property. Rooms in the empty properties cost £200 to £350 per month, including bills.