Words by Smiley Team
If anyone knows the underworld of housing in the UK, it’s Katharine Hibbert, an ex-journalist who spent a year living with no money, no job and no stable accommodation.
From this experience, detailed in her book, Adventures on the Margins of a Wasteful Society, she gained a firsthand knowledge of what it’s like living with little or no income while rent and housing prices are so extortionate.
After writing the book, Katharine’s exploration of housing problems continued as she went on to create Dot Dot Dot, a property guardianship company. The social enterprise supports property owners who want to protect their empty buildings, as well as city-dwellers who gain inexpensive accommodation along with the chance to pursue interests outside work.
She explained: “I wanted to do something which solved the problem of empty buildings for the people who own them and live around them. But I also wanted to unlock people's ability to do useful, worthwhile, fun, cool, interesting, experimental things.”
Dot Dot Dot and other property guardianships offer a security service to property owners, protecting their empty buildings from crime and dereliction.
“From the property owner’s point of view we're offering them a low hassle, flexible and cost-effective solution that’s much better than any other option available to them,” Katharine explained.
The difference with Dot Dot Dot is that they prioritise guardians’ interests and local communities. Residents benefit from housing costs well below the market average, allowing them to free up time to spend on socially or environmentally-beneficial initiatives.
“It's not that people have to be volunteering when they join us, but they do need to have something that they're interested in doing which we can support them with,” she added.
Thanks to this emphasis on community spirit, Dot Dot Dot tenants support a whole range of causes. These include volunteering as a Samaritans listener, teaching juggling to homeless people and computer programming to children, as well as looking after sick or injured animals.
But the benefits of Dot Dot Dot property guardianships go beyond this. Residents remark on how guardians tend to develop strong bonds to their communities, supporting other local neighbours.
When they leave, Katharine has noticed that they often continue working voluntarily and contributing to society. “I think it shows that once people have that bit of impetus to get started, everyone has skills and causes they're passionate about, that they want to contribute to and help out with.”
Housing has become an increasingly pressing issue, especially as a result of Covid-19, with the prospect of eviction restrictions being lifted in the UK. At the end of May when the eviction rules changed, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation warned that around 400,000 renters risked losing a roof over their heads.
“Our focus at Dot Dot Dot is on building cities filled with the maximum possible amount of inexpensive housing. The need for affordable accommodation has only intensified as a result of a pandemic and over the next five years I think the struggles will worsen for people looking for housing,” said Katharine.
To benefit from cheaper rented accommodation and free yourself up to contribute more to society, register as a Dot Dot Dot property guardian here.
Find more information about the social enterprise at dotdotdotproperty.com.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
