Property guardianship - renting affordably in London city

It is so expensive to rent in London especially close to the city centre. Being priced out and forced to live further out from zone 1 puts strain on one's work-life balance.

I found out about property guardianship since 2009 and have been once since then until I was able to save up to go to the USA to pursue my MBA and when I returned to the UK in 2019, I was able to save up and bought my first home in Oxford in July 2022.

I pay licence fees instead of rent. The prices are generally between 30-60% less compared with renting in the open market. That's a lot of savings. For example, my last property guardianship was in a self contained studio flat in East London at market rental rates of at least £1000-1,200 p.m. bills not included, compared with what I paid - my licence fees plus council tax and utilities is around £500-550p.m.!

I have lived in quite a few interesting buildings that are not designed for residential use and have had a lot of fun and met a lot of interesting characters. Some building types are suitable for the arty types or those who are freelancers who needs lots of space to "work" and live in. Mind you, there are restrictions on what you can and cannot do, you won't have all the freedom of a renter. Parties and running a "business" from your space it not allowed. Read the terms and conditions.

The downside of being a property guardian is - you cannot chose who you will live with if it's a shared accommodation situation, you are not guaranteed a fixed period of time at the address, you can be asked to vacate at anytime (you'll be given 4 weeks' notice), it won't be furnished, the space might not be ready to move in straight away without some cleaning and decoration (e.g. painting and replacing light bulbs etc).

For sure, this lifestyle is not for everyone! You must be flexible, adaptable, open minded and must not mind having to move at short notice.

The up side is the amount of money I've managed to save. It has  allowed me to live and work in London cheaply, paid for my MBA abroad and bought a home. The property guardian concept is an European concept, I think from the Netherlands. According to Wikipedia:

Property guardianship is an arrangement by which people are granted cheap accommodation in return for living flexibly, often in desirable locations and unusual properties such as former commercial buildings like pubs, offices, police stations and even historically important properties. By the guardians' continued occupation these properties that would otherwise be vacant cannot be occupied by squatters.

Here's a link to learn more: Property guardianship - Wikipedia

There's lots of property guardian companies and guardianship options especially in London. Just do an online search.

property guardianship london - Search (bing.com)

If you are looking to rent, is single or with a partner, have no pets or children, have good references and a job, you are eligible to become a property guardian. Try it out and let me know how it goes!

Pics attached are guardians in a pub, a church, office space and a commercial space.