Four in five prospective London buyers are taking on “side hustles” to help fund their purchases and their lifestyle in the capital, according to a new survey.
The poll of 1,000 London wannabe purchasers aged between 25 and 65 found that 80% are involved in some form of entrepreneurial activity outside their main day job.
More than a third are freelancing, almost a quarter are running some form of small business, with a similar proportion engaged in “content creation”, the research found. Nearly a half are topping up their income through investment activity.
Earnings and spending patterns
Although some are only supplementing their incomes with small amounts of extra “pin money”, around a quarter are making at least £10,000 a year.
The survey found that 37% of respondents currently pay to use spaces beyond their main workplace. That rises to 55% for those running a business and 47% for content creators. For the 42% of those who said they spend between two and six hours a week building their business, they are typically paying at least £45 a day on coworking passes.
Homes adapted for side projects
The survey, carried out by researchers More in Common, suggests that buyers are increasingly looking for homes that can help support their small scale business ventures.
Almost two thirds of respondents say they already use their homes to focus on their side projects every or most days. The research was commissioned by Ballymore, the developers behind 25 Cuba, a 52-storey tower in Canary Wharf.
The development, which is being delivered by Ballymore and Penta Real Estate, will include more than 400 private and affordable homes with amenities including areas for work, study, networking and collaboration.
This includes a reading room and library, production studios with professional podcast equipment, such as mics, mixing decks and digital cameras, and a screening room to showcase content created.
Developer response and broader trends
The 434 new homes range from one-bedroom suites to three-bedroom apartments with prices starting from £395,000 and rising to £2.75 million. Brian De'Ath, managing director of sales & marketing at Ballymore, said: “We spend a great deal of time understanding how people actually want to live, how they work, how they rest, how they connect.
“Every decision at 25 Cuba comes from that understanding, informed by the insights we have gained from listening to our residents through internal surveys and observing how they use our neighbourhoods.
“People are doing so much more than their primary job, they are building businesses, creating content, freelancing, investing, learning.
“They are ambitious and our research shows that their homes need to keep up with them, and become a place where they can feel productive, focused and creative. At 25 Cuba, we are creating a space that genuinely supports the full breadth of how these people want to spend their time.”
The research also revealed that outside the home, respondents feel most creative in parks and outdoor spaces, with 70% of respondents identifying these as places where they feel inspired.
The latest findings tally with previous surveys showing that the continuing high cost of London property combined with rising living costs and mortgage rates well above the levels of before and during the pandemic have forced buyers to supplement their incomes.
A survey from lenders Santander found that around half of home buyers nationally are “home hustling” with average monthly earnings of £442.62.
However, some are making far more with one in ten reporting earnings of more than £1,000 a month. Two thirds said they are saving most or all of their “hustle” cash into their deposit pot.
The side hustle boom dates back to the working from home revolution triggered by the Covid pandemic that led to a massive reduction in commuting and an explosion in the number of people doing their jobs remotely.
At the same time the cost of living squeeze over the five years since the pandemic have forced millions to generate new income streams to maintain their standards of living.
Workers with a side hustle can take advantage of the HMRC’s “trading allowance” which means you can earn up to £1,000 a year on top of your main job without paying income tax. But any earnings above this are subject to taxation at the worker’s usual marginal rate.
