Renter to Homeowner through London Living Rent with L&Q

Name: Violet

Job: NHS Pharmacist

Type of home: two-bedroom apartment

Deposit: £1,085

Monthly rent: £940 – saving of roughly £300-500 per month.

In just a year and a half, London Living Rent (LLR) customer Violet went from renting a two-bedroom apartment in Park Royal to owning a four-bedroom home with her partner in Basingstoke.

At the start of her LLR journey, Violet discovered L&Q at Regency Heights, a new development in West London surrounded by beautiful greenery and lakes, where one-bedroom apartments are available through the scheme. Aimed at helping Londoners get onto the property ladder, the rent for LLR homes is set at one-third of the average local household income in the borough where the property is located, which is designed to ensure that monthly costs stay manageable, and savings can be redirected for the long-term.

Registering her interest, Violet learnt that she could rent a two-bedroom London Living Rent apartment for less than the value of her previous privately rented home, allowing her to save every month towards a deposit. She would also benefit from an Assured Shorthold Tenancy of three years, with a break clause of 12 months, should she need it.

She explains, “I wanted to live by myself, and was keen to stay in West London close to where I work in Hammersmith, so when I discovered L&Q’s London Living Rent homes at Regency Heights, it was perfect! Initially, I was sold on the location and price, but upon visiting the development, the size and spaciousness of the apartments really impressed me. Plus, the surrounding greenery and lakes were beautiful.”

Recalling her experience, Violet comments, “London Living Rent is a popular scheme, so the checks are quite rigorous to make sure that you’re eligible. You need all your documents and financial information to hand – that would be my main advice to people applying. If you have that, it really speeds up the process. Once I was passed over to L&Q for my application for Regency Heights, everything was a lot quicker – in the end, it took just two months from initial viewing to getting the keys.”

Violet moved into L&Q at Regency Heights in January 2023, beginning her LLR saving journey. She says, “The discounted rent meant that suddenly I was able to save between £300 – £500 more a month than my previous living situation. I had some savings in a Help to Buy ISA, and over the course of a year, I was able to build up my deposit.”

“Since then, I met a new partner and we started to plan our lives together. Looking ahead to the future, we wanted to find a property with more space and a big garden that would offer more space for a family – that led to the decision to leave London and buy together.”

In April 2024, Violet and her partner, Mustafa, moved into a four-bedroom house in Basingstoke, a town just Southwest of London. Violet comments, “I had family living in the area, so it felt like a natural move for us. Basingstoke also has great road links into London, which meant I can still easily commute in for work. I loved my apartment at L&Q at Regency Heights, but it felt like the right time for the two of us to leave the city for somewhere we could settle down with more space for the future.”

Reflecting on her experience as a London Living Rent tenant, Violet says, “LLR is definitely a useful scheme for people trying to get onto the property ladder, especially if you want to live independently and can’t afford to do so on the open market. Finding L&Q at Regency Heights meant I avoided moving into a small rental place with a stranger. I had a beautiful apartment in a green development, with the flexibility to save towards a deposit, and move when the time was right. It really opened the door for me in terms of getting onto the ladder.”