A TV property show dedicated to the thousands of stretched “Generation Rent” Londoners grappling with the housing market launches tonight.
The first episode of Place Invaders is broadcast at 8pm on the Standard’s sister TV channel London Live.
It will highlight how young Londoners who are despairing of ever being able to afford to rent, let alone buy, can cut their housing costs — and the time spent searching for accommodation.
Tonight’s debut episode shines a light on the growing phenomenon of speed flat-mating and follows twenty-somethings trying to find a room in a house in sought-after Clapham. But it also features Radio 1 and 1xtra DJ and hip-hop artist Charlie Sloth — the antidote to smooth TV property presenters such as Phil Spencer and Kirstie Allsopp — as a guide to London’s homes.
In the first episode, the Camden-born 27-year-old tours a Chelsea apartment and a £4 million Holland Park house that has been turned into a teenagers’ dream home complete with illuminated dancefloor and DJ booth.
Mr Sloth’s trademark test of the quality of the beds in the homes he visits — taking a running jump on to the mattresses, ends in disaster when one leg punctures the floorboards. For young Londoners lucky enough to have a deposit there are also “insider” tips from Croydon buying agent Perry Powers on how to avoid the worst of the mistakes made by first-time buyers.
Jonathan Boseley, London Live’s director of programming and commissioning, said: “This is the first ever series to focus solely on London’s unique property market. If you are eager to own your home, fascinated by architectural and interior design and simply love looking at luxurious homes, you simply cannot miss Place Invaders.”
Place Invaders begins tonight at 8pm on London Live.
