"I avoided paying extortionate London rental prices by house sitting and looking after their cats"

Meet the woman avoiding paying extortionate London rental prices by house sitting for strangers and looking after their cats - saving £2,700. Ruby Frances, 24, moved to London in July 2022 and managed to avoiding paying any rent by house sitting for free during her first two months in the city - saving £1,350 a month. The web development graduate, who is originally from Wellington, New Zealand, realised she couldn’t afford to live alone in the capital but wanted to move so she could start hunting for a job. After seeing a video on TikTok about house sitting, she joined Facebook groups and was recommended a website called Trusted House Sitters - where she set up a profile to find places to stay. Ruby has house sat in five different homes since coming to the UK. She looks after the owner's cats, plants and does general house chores while they are away. Ruby, from Wellington, New Zealand, said: “It’s so great I literally get to stay in amazing houses for free and look after their cats. “I didn’t realise this was possible until I saw a TikTok about it. “I wouldn’t have been be able to afford to live in London and look for a job if I wasn’t house sitting. “I have to make sure I am in the house enough to look after the cats and I can’t really have anyone over. “But it gives me so much freedom and I’m getting to know London by moving to different places.” Ruby decided she wanted to move to London after finishing her diploma in web development in June 2022. She has recently secured herself a permanent job and home but says she's thinking of using house sitting again when going on travels.