London rent is a wild beast. The kind that eats your money, laughs in your face, and still expects you to say thank you. When I first moved into my flat, I was just another 20-something trying to make ends meet. Fast forward a few years, and I’ve somehow gone from flatmate to landlord—a sentence I never thought I’d say before 30.
Here’s how I made it happen, starting with negotiating my rent, splitting bills smartly, and making tiny savings add up to something real.
1. Negotiating Rent – It’s Not as Scary as You Think
When my first tenancy renewal came up, I braced myself for the dreaded rent increase. Instead of panicking, I did my homework. I checked rental prices in my area on Rightmove and Zoopla, compared similar properties, and found my landlord was already charging above average. Armed with that info, I politely emailed and asked for a fairer deal.
Tip: If you’re a reliable tenant (pay on time, don’t throw wild parties every weekend), you have negotiating power. Landlords prefer keeping good tenants rather than risking empty months and finding someone new. I managed to shave £100 a month off my rent just by asking!
2. Splitting Bills Without Arguments
Living with a flatmate is great; until the bills start rolling in and suddenly no one remembers who paid for what. The best thing we ever did? Set up a shared expense tracker.
We used Splitwise to log everything from rent to electricity, making sure everything stayed even and transparent. No awkward “Did you send me that tenner for WiFi?” texts, no resentment over someone “forgetting” to pay their share. We also signed up for a joint Monzo pot for bills, setting up direct debits so nothing got missed.
Tip: If you and your flatmate have different paydays, agree on a fair system where rent and bills are covered without financial stress.
3. Small Savings That Made a Big Difference
I didn’t make one huge, dramatic change that magically turned me into a homeowner overnight. Instead, I did a hundred tiny things that, over time, stacked up:
- Meal prepping instead of grabbing lunch out every day.
- Bulk buying household essentials (shampoo, cleaning products) when deals were on.
- Using cashback apps like TopCashback every time I booked a train or shopped online.
- Switching energy providers regularly to get the best deal.
- Skipping the Zone 1 commute when possible and walking instead.
It all seemed small at the time, but after a couple of years, I had a healthy deposit saved up; enough to finally step into the property market.
Final Thoughts
I won’t pretend it was easy. London is expensive, and saving while renting feels like running on a treadmill with your bank account on fire. But by negotiating rent, splitting bills fairly, and making tiny financial tweaks, I managed to go from struggling to keep up with rent to owning my own place.
And now? Clarkie and I have a little home of our own; though he still believes the sofa belongs entirely to him.
