I pay £680 a month to rent in London – but my neighbours are prisoners

‘Views of the historic building come at no extra cost,’ says Zach Sharif of his unusual Brixton home - Paul Grover

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Taking in my first sip of a morning coffee, I can see the slammer from my bedroom window.

HMP Brixton stands dark, gloomy and imposing. The prison sits behind my strelitzia plant, my miniature Tardis, and two cartoony pop art prints stuck to the walls.

I pay £680 a month for my year-long sentence. Views of the historic building come at no extra cost.

My four-bedroom flat is rented for £3,250 per month. It’s a 15-minute walk from Brixton station in south London, with quick and easy access to the Victoria line.

The open-plan kitchen and living room have plenty of light and storage space. There are also two bathrooms and a balcony.

Zach, who pays £680 a month, shares his Brixton flat with three other housemates - Paul Grover

The block of flats, named Jebb Avenue Estate, is opposite the scenic Brockwell Park, and is much quieter than the chaos towards the station, which brings a vast array of nightlife, restaurants and barbecues by the side of the road.

Brixton is located in the borough of Lambeth, where the average rent for a flat with four or more bedrooms is £3,982, according to Hamptons. My housemates split the rent according to room size, so I pay a cheaper rate for a much smaller room.

But even taking that into account, a rent of £680 for a furnished room in a sought-after part of London is... well, criminal.

However, the downside is clear. The behemoth staring at you every day is sterile and barren. Jebb Avenue Estate was never part of the prison, but to reach home I must pass through the “HMP Brixton” sign and walk along the seemingly never-ending fortified wall.

The barbed wire takes its toll on one’s mental health, as does the deathly quiet at night.

To enter the Jebb Avenue Estate, residents must walk through the imposing ‘HMP Brixton’ sign - Paul Grover

The estate was originally built in 1951 to house prison officers. I doubt there were many perks to the job, but the commute would have been hard to beat.

The prison itself opened in 1820 and hosted the Kray twins and Bertrand Russell. The philosopher was incarcerated in Brixton twice – in 1918 for his pacifist activism and in 1961 for protesting nuclear weapons.

“One is cooped up with a number of average human beings, unable to escape except into one’s own state-room,” Bertie wrote in his Brixton letters.

Sometimes when I think about my housemates – one of whom is an active sleepwalker – I can’t help but feel the same.

I met this ragtag bunch through the flatshare website SpareRoom and we quickly became fierce friends. The four of us are all in our late twenties, ascending a career ladder in the most expensive European city to rent.

It’s common for friends of mine to spend around half their salaries on rent, if not more. Renting a studio flat? Forget it. Buying a house instead? Good luck.

Landlords may be struggling under the brunt of tax rises and the Renters’ Rights Act, but it’s the debt-laden young graduates I feel sorry for.

Nearly half of those aged 25 to 45 are now prepared to move out of the capital because of housing costs, according to a report from housing developer Pocket Living.

Young Londoners not only see a generational gap in wealth, but a regional one among their own peers.

At first, friends sprawled across the UK will notice that those outside the capital benefit from a cheaper lifestyle. But a few years down the line, the gap becomes a chasm.

Since leaving university, I’ve lived in six different homes across London. I’ve paid £62,000 in rent. The average house deposit in the UK is £63,855, according to UK Finance. Meanwhile, my student loan debt stands at £53,305.

At this point, I wouldn’t blame you for doubting my credentials as a Money reporter.

It’s also unclear whether London’s earnings premium comes close to addressing the disparity in living costs.

For those aged 22 to 29, the average salary is £38,000. Outside London, this age bracket earns up to £10,000 less on average. Is it worth it?

I ponder this question usually at around 8pm, when distant clanging echoes around the complex. I’ve assumed this is when the guards lock up for the night.

But there is positive work being carried out, such as the award-winning Clink restaurant, which sits inside the building itself. The charitable venture is staffed by inmates and offers a gourmet set menu for £48.50.

The Clink delivers hospitality training for prisoners coming to the end of their sentence, and 69pc of restaurant graduates are in further employment or education.

Advertisements for the prison’s inmate-staffed restaurant, The Clink, feature around the Jebb Avenue Estate - Paul Grover

Bizarrely enough, this is not the first time I have lived near a Great British prison. Some years ago, I lived with a friend opposite HMP Pentonville in Islington, above a newsagents.

Despite what it may appear like, prisons haven’t been part of my house-hunting criteria, but they may have factored into my search for cheaper places to live in the capital.

The hectic Caledonian Road isn’t ideal for a settled life, but for a chaotic 23 year-old it was perfect. The rent, £1,800 for a two-bed flat, was relatively cheap for its prime location, which was just one Tube stop from Kings Cross.

As in Brixton, officers were historically housed in a block of flats adjacent to Pentonville. The flats, which were sold last year, were empty for almost a decade, prompting activists to campaign for their use.

Amidst a housing crisis, it’s easy to see why these sites are in demand. Up the road, HMP Holloway has been converted into 980 homes, complete with 1.4 acres of new parkland.

Ultimately, high rents pushed me towards finding a quirky housing setup, but I wouldn’t change it. It’s clear that despite persistent crime, an affordability crisis, and a negative social media perception, London still has a magnetic pull.

It’s just a shame that so many have been priced out.

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