Company type | Private Limited Company |
---|---|
Industry | Property, Security |
Founded | 1993 |
Number of locations | 12 (Belgium, France, Germany, Republic of Ireland, Netherlands and United Kingdom) |
Key people | Joost van Gestel, CEO |
Number of employees | 200 |
Camelot Property Management Ltd. (Dutch: Camelot Beheer BV) is a vacant property management firm started in the Netherlands in 1993.[1][2] Camelot manages commercial and residential properties on behalf of landlords and property developers by assigning people to occupy vacant buildings to deter squatters.[3][4]
They are notable for having taken most of their UK subsidiary companies into voluntary liquidation several times,[5] the most recent being November 2019[6] after Camelot Guardian Management Ltd were successfully prosecuted for 15 breaches of the Housing Act.[7]
Occupiers pay a deposit and a weekly management fee, often a half of the private rental sector equivalent for similar properties in the same area, and in return they help keep the property secure through being occupied.[8]
The occupiers do not have the same tenancy rights for six months notice and have fewer rights than squatters.[9][10]
Other companies offering similar property guardian services include Live-In Guardians, Dex Property Management, VPS Guardians and Ad-Hoc Property Management.[11] These companies have been taken to court over several different breaches such as health and safety of their guardians, some for illegally renting out properties without the owners consent.[12]
Camelot also provide squat eviction services and security guards. The company successfully lobbied the French government to introduce anti-squatting legislation.[13]
In 2016, the former headquarters of Camelot in Shoreditch, east London, were occupied by squatters.[14]