Property guardians: caretaker solutions to sky-high city rents

‘A lot of these places you would walk past and not know they’re there,’ says Luke Williams in his east London rented property. Photograph: Jill Mead/The Guardian

A top-floor, open-plan property in a trendy east London neighbourhood would usually set you back thousands of pounds a month in rent, but Luke Williams is paying a fraction of that.

The 45-year-old programme manager is one of a growing number of professionals turning to property guardianship – a housing arrangement whereby people live in vacant buildings in exchange for reduced rent.