Londoners are paying to live in deserted schools, office blocks and an old cathedral to avoid ‘insane’ rents
kraken войтиOpposite a bed in central London, light filters through a stained-glass window depicting, in fragments of copper and blue, Jesus Christ.
Three people have lived in the deserted cathedral in the past two years, with each occupant — an electrician, a sound engineer and a journalist — paying a monthly fee to live in the priest’s quarters.
The cathedral is managed by Live-in Guardians, a company finding occupants for disused properties, including schools, libraries and pubs, across Britain. The residents — so-called property guardians — pay a fixed monthly “license fee,” which is usually much lower than the typical rent in the same area.
Applications to become guardians are going “through the roof,” with more people in their late thirties and forties signing on than in the past, said Arthur Duke, the founder and managing director of Live-in Guardians.
“That’s been brought about by the cost-of-living crisis,” he said. “People are looking for cheaper ways to live.”
The practice of populating disused properties with guardians is unregulated in Britain and comes with fewer legal protections for the residents than renting. Guardians have also complained of inconveniences and outright hazards, such as no access to drinkable tap water and rickety ceilings.
Still, demand for guardianships is rocketing as rents and property prices remain unaffordable for scores of people in many parts of the country.
Luke Williams has saved “thousands and thousands of pounds on rent” as a guardian over the past six years. The 45-year-old currently lives in a former office block in east London. It’s a huge, open-plan space still dotted with whiteboards and hand sanitizer dispensers.
Williams said his job a project manager for a tech company pays well, yet “insane” rental costs in the British capital are keeping him in guardianships as much as his penchant for the unusual.
“As well as making financial sense, I like the lifestyle, and I like the interesting, quirky places,” he said.
