About Dot Dot Dot
Dot Dot Dot is a social enterprise which provides safe, inexpensive housing to property guardians who volunteer for good causes.
What we do
We house residents – known as property guardians – to live in buildings that would otherwise sit empty. Property guardians keep the building secure for the owners and wider community. In return, the guardians receive inexpensive housing.
Unlike other property guardianship providers, Dot Dot Dot guardians commit to volunteering for at least 16 hours a month while they are housed with us. That’s because we believe in a society where people have the time and energy to give back to the causes they care about. It’s the reason we’re in business: to provide housing that makes it easier for people to do more good.
Our history
Dot Dot Dot, an award-winning social enterprise, was founded in 2011 by former housing journalist, Katharine Hibbert. She came up with the idea for a socially responsible property guardianship while writing about the plight of empty buildings in the UK. While there were other property guardian companies out there, none were focused on creating a positive social impact.
Katharine believed that if you provided people with safe, inexpensive housing they would have more time and energy to do other things that mattered to them:
- Time because not having to pay high rent can enable people to work fewer hours, or people can live closer to their jobs and therefore cut down on commuting time;
- Energy because reducing anxieties linked to financial hardship, and unsafe or unsuitable housing, would mean people were in a better place emotionally to think about contributing to a cause.
Since we were established, we have given hundreds of empty properties a new purpose by turning them into homes for community-minded people, and hubs of social impact.
We mainly work across London and the south east with a variety of clients – principally councils, housing associations and property developers. Our property owners get responsible guardians to look after their empty properties, resulting in better security and flexibility.
Guardians get well managed, inexpensive homes, so they can focus on what really matters to them. And communities get neighbours who use their extra time and energy to give back.
We call it property guardianship with purpose.
Find out more
- Read about our mission and values
- Discover how to become a guardian
Dot Dot Dot Property Ltd is a company registered in England under number 07668545.
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