Tim Lowe is a 26-year-old property graduate on a four-month odyssey to search for renting options in London for just £500 a month all in. For the second stay he moved from his Live-in Guardian scheme in Gospel Oak to shared living concept The Camden Collective
My continuing mission to discover, first hand, what sorts of rental properties are available in London on a tight budget felt particularly pertinent last week. With news released that young renters in the capital are trapped paying £1,000 a month for “rabbit hutch” properties, I am carrying on with my odyssey – moving every three weeks for four months – to find the alternatives for under £500 a month all in. This week I’m reporting back on my second three-week stay.
My time in a shared living space at The Camden Collective, N1, has been the polar opposite experience to my previous stint as a live-in guardian in an empty office building in Gospel Oak, NW3 (9 August, p44). It was clean, quiet and comfortable, and the days of sharing one shower between 16 are long gone. It has felt like going from a rundown backpacker hostel to a hotel upgrade overnight, paying just £100 extra a month for the privilege. As an affordable PRS product in central London, it is near faultless. But I did miss the sense of community of my previous digs.
Situated between Camden and Holloway, the imposing, 50-bed period building is on the bustling Camden Road. The former HMO property was gutted by a fire in 2007 and left in a state of total neglect for years. It was spotted by The Collective founder Reza Merchant in 2012 and returned to its former glory ?(16 August, p40).
Behind towering, solid electric gates with 24/7 security, the location felt safe. And it was very quiet, thanks to soundproofing fences, which cut out most of the traffic noise. With Camden Town, Kentish Town and Holloway all within walking distance, there were plenty of pubs, restaurants and clubs close by.
The day I arrived happened to coincide with The Collective’s monthly barbecue – a chance for all residents and staff to get to know each other. This gave me a perfect opportunity to suss out some of my new housemates. Unlike in the disused office block, where my fellow guardians were all roughly the same age and at similar points in their careers, the mix of tenants in The Collective was far more diverse. With overseas students, young professionals, couples and those in their later stages of their careers, it was very difficult to define a typical tenant. And with tenancy agreements flexible – ranging from a couple of weeks to a year – I was never quite sure who was coming or going.
It was clearly an attractive option for those looking for an affordable, short-term let. Take Mel, for example. She was in her late 30s and based in Northampton but filming a four-month project in East London. The Collective provided her with the perfect bolt-hole: a central location at the fraction of the price of a hotel or serviced apartment.
With 50 rooms in the building, there was a blend of en suite with shared eating facilities, modestly priced at between £115 and £250 per week, and studios for those with deeper pockets, which ranged between £260 and £350 per week. Taking the cheapest room in the building, I found myself in the basement. My room was incredibly compact, just 13 sq m, which included an en suite bathroom, wardrobe, desk, and a bed. Although miniature, its functionality and servicing worked perfectly for my needs.
For just £115 per week, my rent included all bills, a cleaner once a week, fresh sheets and a concierge service manned by the affable Louis, who was on hand 24/7 to assist with any problems. I can’t stress what a pleasure it was to come back home late from work and find my room spotless. I would be very surprised if this price could be bettered elsewhere within Zone 2.
But there was a downside. Along with four other rooms along my corridor, I had use of a shared kitchen and a small living room with a television and a range of books and games. Sadly, the communal areas were barely used, with most tenants keeping themselves to the confines of their rooms. Whether this was down to the lack of communal space offered, the diverse mix of tenants, the varied length of tenancies, or simply people preferring not to mix, it contrasted with my time as property guardian, where every evening everybody would eat together and hang out. To me, it highlighted the importance of community space in such schemes.
I spoke with the people at The Collective about this issue. With most of their employees being young renters themselves, they were fully aware that this was an area they needed to work on in their upcoming schemes. As The Camden Collective was their first building – and with space at a minimum – they concentrated on creating a serviced rental model that could be replicated on a much larger scale. With this in mind, their latest scheme – a 323-bed purpose-built PRS building in Willesden Junction – will focus on larger communal spaces, with bars, lounges, chill-out rooms, a gym and spa, as well as secret garden and a disco-styled washing room.
But it is time to move on again, so last week I swapped the comfort of an en suite in Camden for a houseboat in Hackney, where the luxuries of running water, electricity on a switch and a bedroom with doors have all but deserted me. The boat’s interiors are currently under construction, so as part of my stay I am helping the owner with the fit-out. I hope to have doors fitted by the end of the week and to get the solar panels working so we can have electricity at night.
I have a few more accommodation styles to test over the next month-and-a-half, so watch this space. But I am still trying to find my final crash pad. All suggestions – and offers – gratefully received.
Remember: Zone 2, £500 or under a month, all in.
• Follow Tim on Twitter @Lowecostliving
