When I was first introduced to the term “property guardian” I had a very limited idea of what it meant. For some reason I related a guardian closely to a squatter. Was this because of the many articles I read about the terrible conditions guardians were living in? Having worked for a private developer prior to joining LOWE I did not have a clue how guardian companies worked or what type of person a guardian was – why people would choose to live in a showerless property over a private rental? All of these false perceptions were quickly put to rest when I met Tim and consequently joined LOWE in January, 2017 as Head of Operations.
Fundamentally, LOWE’s main objectives are:
- Providing an offering that emphasises the highest level of customer service
- Reacting incredibly quickly to maintenance issues and keeping the guardians in the loop by constant communication
- Offering an (actual) affordable place to live for key workers, creatives and young professionals
- Building a real sense of community within the guardian properties
Some of the horror stories I have heard from our current guardians (who were previously with other guardian companies) range from simple things such as no hot water to more extreme examples such as fires breaking out because the electrics had not been tested or certified.
Stories like these highlight the importance of making sure the building is safe, tested and habitable by providing the essentials such as but certainly not limited to; testing electrics, implementing a fire system and strategy, offering a fair number of showers between guardians. When Tim was a guardian he had the pleasure of sharing a shower with 20 other people…
The LOWE team are a young team but incredibly ambitious and I suppose the greatest advantage we have is that we are the demographic that we offer our service to. We understand their needs as they are the equivalent to ours. We care about all of the amazing spaces we are given and to ensure their care we make sure that the guardians we put into the properties show the same respect and attentiveness we do.
What we offer:
- Great spaces to live with prices starting from £425 inc. all bills
- Our in-house maintenance team deals with any maintenance issues in record time (better than any private rental company I have ever seen…)
- Harbouring an honest, considerate and genuine relationship with all of our licensee’s
- Networking opportunities
- A thorough vetting process to make sure that we are filling the properties with like minded people.
It is simple; for LOWE to continue to flourish and grow as well as we have over the past year, we need to stick to our values and meet our objectives. By doing that, we can continue to be the (in our opinion) the best guardianship company out there – and many of our guardians would agree!