Guardians vs security guards, CCTV and boarding up

In short

• Most published costs are vendor claims. We label them and leave out any we could not confirm.
• Insurers set conditions on empty buildings, and say little about guardians.
• Only guardians and some meanwhile uses put people in the building. That adds duties. Guards, screens and cameras do not.
• The standard for this work, BS 8584, treats the options as combinable.

The five options

1. Property guardians

People live in the building on licences and keep it occupied. Guardian firms usually earn from the guardians' fees. Camden's 2024 report says that without guardians the council would need to pay for security officers, boarding up and alarms. With them that spending is removed and the council gets income from licence fees (Camden report, 2024).

Cost: the only figures are a guardian firm's. The London Assembly's 2018 report says guardianship can save up to £2,000 a week against professional guards and up to £400 against steel protection and alarms. Its footnote credits both numbers to a written submission from a guardian firm (2018, para 3.5). That is vendor marketing from 2018. We have no current or independent figure.

2. Manned guarding and patrols

A guard on site, or patrols that visit. Guards doing licensable work need a licence from the Security Industry Authority (SIA).

Cost: one supplier advertises static guarding from £20 an hour (vendor price page, undated). That is a starting price, not a quote. We found no published price for mobile patrols.

3. Remote-monitored CCTV and alarms

Camera towers or alarm systems watched from a control room, which calls a response. Lockton, an insurance broker, lists CCTV, alarms and lighting among the measures that reduce squatting risk (Lockton, Nov 2023).

Cost: one tower supplier says hire can cost up to 88% less than one guard covering a site 108 hours a week. It published the claim in April 2025 and updated it in January 2026, and gave no tower price (vendor article). That is vendor marketing.

4. Steel screens and void protection

Steel or polymer panels over doors and windows, often with an alarm. Lockton lists locking doors and windows, perimeter fencing, concrete barriers and removing access points such as scaffolding (Lockton).

Cost: we found no price we could confirm, so we give none. Ask for quotes for your own building.

5. Meanwhile use and temporary lets

Letting the space for a short-term use. Camden's report records one provider's proposal to let offices as coworking desks to reduce the council's business rates (Camden report). We found no independent cost or effectiveness evidence for meanwhile use.

What insurers say

• One Aviva hotel-insurance wording, quoted in a March 2020 COVID-19 note, treats a building as unoccupied after more than 45 consecutive days (temporarily extended to 90). Wordings vary. If you fail its conditions, such as weekly inspections with a log, you lose the right to payment for that claim (Aviva wording, March 2020).
• Lockton says insurers may be reluctant to provide cover for vacant properties or may charge more. It recommends visible security patrols, CCTV, alarms and lighting. It does not mention guardians (Lockton, 29 Nov 2023).
• The only figure for guardians cutting premiums, "up to 50 per cent", comes from the same guardian firm's 2018 submission (para 3.5).

We found no insurer source on whether guardians count as occupation. Get your insurer's answer in writing. See insuring an empty building.

Business rates and council tax

None of these options is a reliable way to cut business rates. Empty property relief gives 3 months (6 for industrial) in England (GOV.UK). Our reading is that guards, cameras and screens leave the building empty, so the clock is not changed. For guardians, the Court of Appeal found in 2020 that the owner stayed in rateable occupation of an office building full of guardians (Ludgate House). The full picture, including council tax on empty homes, is in property guardians and business rates.

Legal duties guardians add

Guards, cameras and screens put no one in the building. Guardians do, and that brings housing law.

• HMO licensing. A shared guardian building can be an HMO. Since 1 May 2026 an owner above the firm can be guilty of the unlicensed-HMO offence. See owners and HMO licences.
• Notice and a court order. Guardians need at least 4 weeks' notice and a court order if they stay. See getting your building back.
• Fire safety. London Fire Brigade's guidance says owners of guarded premises are Fire Safety Order "responsible persons". It is internal guidance released under a freedom of information request (LFB, 2023).

Guards need a licensed supplier (SIA). That duty sits with the security firm.

Choosing, and combining

BS 8584:2015 is a code of practice for vacant property protection. It covers security management, manned services (static guarding, mobile patrols, remote monitoring), barriers, alarms and CCTV, and protection by occupation. It says protection may be given by a combination of methods and that the right provision varies with the type and condition of the property (BSI).

Our reading of the sources, not a rule:

• Guardians need a building that can be lived in safely, and an owner ready for the housing duties above.
• Screens, alarms and towers add no housing duties, which suits a building that is unsafe to live in.
• Guards cost money every hour, which points to short or high-risk periods, or where an insurer asks for it.

Squatting in an empty non-residential building is a civil matter, not a crime in itself. See squatters in an empty commercial building.

Questions owners ask