Spotlight on: Serkan – saving for a mortgage with property guardianship

When Serkan joined our thriving community of guardians in central London, he had initially only been thinking of his short commute to work. But with the financial stability that came with monthly living costs being significantly lower than local market rates, Serkan was able to begin saving money immediately. After his partner Klaara also became a property guardian in late 2019, their savings pot steadily increased, and in March 2020 they were searching for their dream home to buy outside of London.

Back in 2018, I was looking to move to London for work and so was searching for a place to live. When I read about Dot Dot Dot, I was a big fan of the different living approach and noticed that they had a property near Aldgate East. As Dot Dot Dot’s central London property was really close to my place of work I went for it. The monthly costs were half of what I would have been paying had I privately rented in the same area – which I never could have afforded. I was able to begin saving money almost immediately, both on living and transport costs since I was able to walk to work. 

At the end of 2019, my girlfriend moved in with me and became a property guardian too. Now that we were living together and sharing the monthly payments, we were able to save even more money. We ended up staying at the property for longer than we had initially intended, and so were ultimately able to save enough for a house deposit. 

When we began working from home in March last year, we made the decision to look for a home to buy outside of London. We stumbled upon a lovely house in a small market town in Cheshire – great for giving us access to the countryside whilst maintaining good links to London in case we still have to travel for work. Having been able to save so much we were able to buy the place easily – and then we were homeowners! 

Looking back on my time as a Dot Dot Dot guardian, I can honestly say that it was a life-changing opportunity for me and my girlfriend. We were able to make a lot of friends through socialising with the other guardians who we’ll be keeping in touch with, and we now own a spacious country home in an area we love.

Read more stories from our 10 great guardians who we’re highlighting as part of our tenth birthday celebrations.