Getting your building back from property guardians

In short

• Guardians are usually licensees, but a court can find a tenancy whatever the paperwork says.
• A licence needs at least 4 weeks' valid written notice. A court order is needed if they stay.
• Forcing guardians out is a criminal offence risk and a possible £40,000 council fine.
• Who gives notice is set by your contract. Put hand-back dates, court costs and a stop on transfers in it.

The notice

Property guardians usually hold a licence to occupy, not a tenancy. The government says so in its fact sheet for guardians, and adds that licences differ from tenancies mainly in needing only 28 days' notice before eviction action can start (MHCLG).

The rule is in section 5(1A) of the Protection from Eviction Act 1977. A notice to end a periodic licence is not valid unless:

• it is in writing and contains the prescribed information, and
• it is given at least 4 weeks before the date it takes effect (section 5).

The Act excludes a few licences from this protection. They include shared accommodation with a licensor or their family who live there as their only or main home, a licence granted as a temporary expedient to someone who entered as a trespasser, holiday lets, and a licence not granted for money or money's worth (section 3A). A guardian who pays a fee to live in an empty commercial building does not obviously fit any of these. Check with a lawyer before assuming yours does.

In practice the firm usually gives the notice to guardians, after you give notice to the firm under your contract. The two notices run separately, which is why the contract matters (see below).

If guardians don't leave

A valid notice ending does not let you remove people. The Act makes it unlawful to enforce a right to recover possession of a dwelling otherwise than by court proceedings, and that covers a licence that is not excluded (section 3(2B)). The fact sheet says the same: a lawful eviction can usually only be achieved through the local county court.

1. 1

   Serve a valid written notice

   At least 4 weeks, in writing, with the prescribed information. Keep proof of when and how it was served.
2. 2

   Wait for the date to pass

   If guardians leave, you are done. Check the building before you change anything, because someone may still be living there.
3. 3

   Start a possession claim in the county court

   Normally the firm that granted the licences is the claimant. If it will not, or cannot, you may need to bring the claim yourself. In Laleva the owner, NHS Property Services, brought its own claim and got an order for possession (para 3).
4. 4

   Get the order, then enforcement if needed

   If guardians still do not leave after an order, bailiffs or a High Court enforcement officer carry it out. You do not.

How long it takes

No source gives guardian-specific timings. The official figures cover every landlord possession claim in England and Wales, from April to June 2026. The median time from claim was 7.6 weeks to an order, 14.9 weeks to a warrant and 27.1 weeks to repossession (Ministry of Justice). A contested claim can take longer. Plan on the long figure, not the short one.

What not to do

• Do not change locks, remove belongings, cut off services or threaten guardians. Those acts can be offences under the 1977 Act (section 1). The fact sheet says a landlord or licensor doing them will probably be committing an offence.
• A council can now fine for unlawful eviction or harassment, up to £40,000 (Renters' Rights Act 2025, s.58, from 1 May 2026).

Squatters who entered without permission are different. See squatters in an empty commercial building.

Licence or tenancy?

This is the biggest risk to a quick handback. The fact sheet puts it plainly: if the licensee has exclusive possession, it will be a tenancy, even if the agreement labels it as a licence (MHCLG).

• Licence upheld. In Global 100 v Laleva the Court of Appeal held a guardian's argument that she had a tenancy had no real prospect of success. It pointed to the purpose of the agreement, which required the firm to hand the building back when the owner asked (para 42), and a clause letting the firm alter the living space (para 43). The court also said her sham argument had no real prospect (judgment).
• Tenancy found. In Camelot v Roynon (County Court, Bristol, 2017) the judge found a guardian in a council-owned building had exclusive possession of two lockable rooms and held an assured shorthold tenancy. It is a county court decision, so it does not bind other courts (judgment).
• Licence held a sham. At 18 Clerkenwell Close the First-tier Tribunal (June 2025) found the guardian licence was a sham, the occupiers were tenants and they had not been given proper notice to leave. It ordered rent repayment orders against the firm and the company that signed as licensor (decision).

Both outcomes turn on facts. Guardians who chose their own rooms, held the only keys and were never moved looked like tenants. Guardians whose rooms could be changed and whose stay existed to guard the building looked like licensees.

What a tenancy changes

Since 1 May 2026 a landlord in England cannot use section 21. To end an assured tenancy the landlord needs a section 8 notice and a ground for possession (MHCLG guidance). That guidance says it does not cover people on a licence to occupy, so it applies only if a guardian is held to be a tenant. We found no decision on which ground would fit a guardian, so we do not guess.

What else can go wrong

The firm holds a lease from you

Guardians may not be the only ones with a tenancy. At Stamford Brook, an NHS-owned building, the Upper Tribunal agreed that the guardian firm was the tenant of the building, even though the proposal was written as a licence and service agreement ([2022] UKUT 259, para 50). Our reading: if the firm has a lease, you are a superior landlord, and ending it takes more than a contract notice. Since 1 May 2026 superior landlords can also be liable for an unlicensed HMO. See owners and HMO licences.

The firm fails

Camelot Guardian Management Ltd went into voluntary liquidation in November 2019; its sister Camelot Property Management Ltd had done so in April 2017 (London Gazette). In Roynon, the judge held the tenancy was with Camelot Guardian Management Ltd alone, not the sister company that contracted with the council (para 61) (judgment). Camden's 2024 award report records that DEX would carry the risk of guardians refusing to leave (Camden report). A promise like that is only as good as the firm's ability to pay.

Guardians who stay a long time

Camden's 2024 award report records that DEX would plan to move a guardian within 3 months of the end of an 18-month stay in any one project (Camden report). We found no rule that sets a maximum stay, but a long stay is the sort of fact that can matter if someone argues a tenancy.

What to put in the contract

No official model owner contract exists. The list below is our suggestion, drawn from the cases above and Camden's 2024 award report.

• A hand-back date and a notice buffer. Your notice to the firm should be longer than the 4 weeks guardians must get, so the firm has time to serve theirs. Camden's award report records DEX carrying the refusal risk (report).
• The firm runs and pays for possession claims, with a right for you to step in if it does not or cannot. Roynon and Camelot show why (judgment).
• A licence or service agreement, not a lease. Do not grant the firm exclusive possession of the building. The Stamford Brook finding turned on what the agreement did in reality (UKUT).
• Non-exclusive licences, run that way. Lalevarelied on the firm's right to alter the living space, and the hand-back purpose. Require both, and that the firm actually uses them (judgment).
• HMO licence and proof. Camden's award report records that DEX would apply for an HMO licence for every empty property it manages (report). A contract clause alone is not a defence for a superior landlord, so ask to see the licence or application (Housing Act 2004 s.72(4C)).
• No transfer without your consent, and a duty to tell you at once of any insolvency step. Camelot's collapse is the reason (Gazette).
• A maximum stay per guardian and a handback plan, as in the 18-month stay reporting in Camden's award report (report).

You can compare what firms say about owner terms, and their accounts, on the firms and their rules page.

Questions owners ask