An actress, script editor and aspiring screenwriter, Jennifer shared her experiences as a property guardian with LOWE, spoke about the strong community at Pembridge Gardens, and reflected on how access to affordable accommodation has impacted her life as a creative.
What do you do for a living?
I’m an actor and I’m a script editor, so I act when I can but like most actors in the world, I think there’s a lot of time when you’re out of work and it’s unpredictable. So I also translate screenplays and edit them. I’m also an aspiring screenwriter!
That’s amazing! What kind of genre do you write?
It tends to be very dark comedy, things like the female gaze with lots of evil, funny women!
Who are your main inspirations?
A lot of people! I love Ruben Östlund, the Swedish director who did Triangle of Sadness. It’s very dark humour.
Your flat is so beautiful – how long have you been living here and what has your experience been like?
I’ve been here since April 2023 so coming up on two years now. It’s been amazing. We were so lucky to find it 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. And this is a grade two listed building! It’s so beautiful. It’s such an amazing opportunity to be right in the centre of town in this lovely area.
We’re lucky because we’ve got a self-contained flat in the property, but at the same time get access to the community in the building, so if for example, 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.
There’s a real sense of community. If you need help with something, if there’s a spider or if you’ve run out of milk, there are people around to chat to. 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. 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.
That’s so good to hear! Is this your first time being a Property Guardian?
Yeah it is, I found out about it through my ex-partner who lived here with me – he was in a guardianship property that was much more stereotypical, the kind of thing people saw in Crashers, the Phoebe Waller-Bridge series. It was a hospital with this really striking setup, and much more aligned with my preconceived notion of what a guardianship was. But then when I saw Pembridge I saw that this was very different – I hadn’t realised that you could have a self-contained unit with your own kitchen, and bathroom…I hadn’t known that there were Guardianships available that were just flats as opposed to a re-purposed warehouse.
And what would you say to someone who hadn’t heard of Guardianship before?
It suits people who are friendly, who want to feel connected to the immediate area that they’re living in, to feel like they’re living in a community. And for creative people who enjoy being in a space that is perhaps unusual or that they can be creative with. There is the element of it where you don’t know how long you’re going to be there for, but it means that you kind of grab the bull by the horns and make the most of being in the place that you are and make the most of it.
And to be honest, speaking to friends in the private market there are still plenty of people having issues with their landlord selling a property and having to leave. I think people have it in their heads that with guardianship you can get kicked out last minute and it’s really stressful, but at the same time, I have friends whose landlords have let them know that they’re selling the building, and the market moves so quickly in London that 4-6 weeks is all most people have anyway.
It can also be really good having the flexibility because people all the time end up in the situation where a relationship might have ended but they have 5 months left on their lease, or they might get a job on the other side of town or find they don’t like the area they’ve moved to. There are all sorts of reasons you might realise that you don’t want to stay somewhere, and with guardianships you have the flexibility if you need it.
What impact has the affordability of Guardianship had on you as a creative?
It’s been massive, 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.
And what has your experience been like with LOWE?
It’s been great, Isaac and Teresa have been great, everyone’s been really lovely. 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. I know people in the private market who spend weeks pestering, trying to get in touch with someone. The relationship with a conventional landlord can be a bit fraught I guess, depending on how you get on one-on-one. Whereas when you’re dealing with a company, there’s a group of people who are so friendly, just really nice and responsive, I recommend it to everyone.
If you are interested in living with LOWE or have a vacant property that needs protection, we’d love to hear from you.