We recently spoke to four of the property Guardians living at Pembridge Gardens: an actress and script editor, a nurse at St Thomas’ Hospital, a music producer, and a ballet dancer who also teaches and volunteers.
Jennifer
An actress and script editor, Jennifer has created one of our favourite guardian spaces to date. She highlighted the sense of community at Pembridge Gardens and the impact that having access to affordable accommodation has on her life as a creative. Jennifer also spoke to the impact living in a Guardianship has had on her sense of safety at night.
“It’s been amazing. We were so lucky to find this because it isn’t a part of town that I would normally be able to live in, but because the Guardianship arrangement is much more affordable we can. It’s felt like a communal way to live in London, which is a city that you can be quite isolated in. I think there’s the irony right? There’s so many people here, but people are feeling very disconnected. If I’m sleeping here by myself one evening, I don’t have that same fear that I used to get when I slept alone, because I know that I’ve got friends and neighbours just on the other side of the door.”
Nimmi
A nurse of 20 years, who works 12-hour shifts at St Thomas’ Hospital, Nimmi was referred to LOWE by a fellow nurse who was already living in Pembridge Gardens. The move cut her commute to and from work by 45 minutes and with all her family living in India, Nimmi was particularly appreciative of the social connection with her fellow licensees.
She has found a sense of community, sharing cooked meals with her fellow licensees and spending her days off with her friend.
“When my family left I was really struggling to find somewhere and through good luck I found the accommodation here – I am so happy to be living with my friend again. Before I moved to Pembridge Gardens, it would take me almost an hour on the train to get to work – it’s a lot shorter now. After doing 12-hours of a continuous tiring shift, travelling that far was very difficult.”
Alice
As a ballet dancer, Alice highlighted the importance of a central commute – particularly as a female performer often travelling home alone late at night. Also a volunteer and teacher, Alice has created a beautiful space with LOWE.
“Being able to come home to a postcode that I’m familiar with, that I feel safe in, and also that takes me 20 minutes to get to from most places has been a major part of it.
It’s a transitional space and that is what Pembridge has been for me. I think it’s created this ease of transition to and from my work and for where I am at the minute in my life.”
Matt
One of our longest standing guardians, Music producer Matt has lived in LOWE properties on and off for nearly 10 years. When not living in our properties, he has had periods of living overseas and so has benefitted from the flexibility that comes with not being tied into a long tern contract.
Matt credits LOWE’s reliability and excellent service as the reason he’s continued to stay with us over the years.
“I wouldn’t otherwise be able to live here in Notting Hill. I have space for my music stuff, so that I can use this as a live and work space. And I like that LOWE is reliable – if there are ever any issues the communication is really good and I’ve never had any problems.”
Guardianship Community
A common theme in our conversations with the guardians at Pembridge Gardens was how much they value the sense of community that has developed within the building.
Each licensee spoke about the helpfulness and sociability of their neighbours, the mutual respect shown in shared spaces, and — most notably — the easy, judgement-free way everyone is free to choose how much they want to engage socially.
“There’s a vibe in this building where if you run into someone, you stop, say hello and have a chat, it’s understood that there is this neighbourly environment going on which is nice.” – Jennifer
“I like that even though there is a community, there’s an anonymity to it – if I’m living in a small flat with three others, it’s somehow more chaotic than living with loads of people. I can dip in and out and there’s no big deal, whereas living with a small group of people there can be more expectation.” – Matt
“Everyone helps each other – if somebody needs anything we can share in the group chat and somebody will help. Some days some people will cook for everyone and we’ll share food – it’s a homely atmosphere, different people from different cultures living together in unity.” – Nimmi
“There’s an overall feeling that if you bumped into anyone in the corridor, it’s easy and polite, I really do like that.” – Alice
LOWE Maintenance
Guardianship companies have a reputation of poor building maintenance and responsiveness to issues. We asked for feedback about how LOWE had been to deal with.
“It’s an old building so when we have had maintenance issues everyone’s so responsive. We’ve got the FixFlo system for maintenance and repairs and someone comes to help so quickly. I had a problem with my washing machine once, and it was replaced by the end of the day.” – Jennifer
“Whenever there’s been issues they’re resolved pretty quickly. Like, my ceiling actually collapsed here last year but luckily it didn’t destroy anything and it got sorted out really quickly, LOWE offered to put me up in another place and it just wasn’t that big a deal. “ – Matt
Property Guardianship Affordability
Since its inception, the LOWE Group’s mission has been to provide affordable accommodation for key workers, creatives, and young professionals. We view this not only as a way to create social value but also as a crucial means of ensuring that the heart of London isn’t lost due to the ongoing cost of living crisis.
“It’s basically enabled me to live in Central London and stick to doing what I do without having to struggle doing loads of hours of other work. When you’re a creative and you’re trying to find a way to actually make your living from that creative job and not have to do too much work on the side – it’s very difficult to juggle that with living in Central London. And the irony is that as a creative, you need to be in the centre. So I would say that this makes it possible, I wouldn’t be able to afford it, otherwise.” – Jennifer
“Being able to live in this postcode for an ensuite room of this size at this pricepoint is very unusual. London’s rent has become so unmanageable for people, and I’m in employment – I’m working all the time, there’s the importance of being able to save but as a creative my paycheck isn’t as high as say a lawyer – and it’s so important that we have the actual ability to live in London. These alternative options are necessary at the moment I think.” – Alice
“When I first moved here, prior to LOWE, I was always living in zone three and commuting, just because of the cost. LOWE granted me the opportunity to live in zone one.” – Matt
If you are interested in becoming a Property Guardian with LOWE or have a vacant building that needs securing, we’d love to hear from you.