Wanted: young professional to live rent FREE in Kensington!

A national competition from Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks is offering one lucky winner the chance to live rent free in Kensington for a year!

TV presenter and property guru Amanda Lamb and Rick Edwards, the broadcaster and writer, are hosting the competition organised by Studio B, the financial innovation lab from Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks.

The Selling houses with Amanda Lamb presenter will be putting members of the public who want to live in the Central London penthouse apartment through their paces on April 27^th to celebrate the opening of Studio B, Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks’ new flagship London store.

A national competition from Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks is offering one lucky winner the chance to live rent free in Kensington for a year!

Details about the flat

A beautifully furnished modern one bedroom flat on Kensington Church Street, just 5 minutes’ walk from High Street Kensington Tube station and the Studio B store. The flat is situated on the top floor of a period building with stunning views over the Kensington area.  Accommodation comprises double bedroom with built in wardrobes, reception room, fully fitted open plan kitchen, family bathroom and a separate utility room. Added benefits include great storage space, wooden floors in the reception room and great natural light.

How to take part

People wanting to take part just have to turn up on the day, when they will face a general knowledge round and complete cooking, gardening and DIY challenges in the store to make sure they have the skills to look after their own home.

Studio B is organising a ‘Queue-jumper’ prize which will give one entrant a guaranteed place in the first round.  This is an opportunity for contestants from outside London, as transport and accommodation costs are included in the prize. For details see the B at Clydesdale Bank Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/youandb/ 

Studio B, an innovation lab designed to solve the banking issues of tomorrow, is also pledging to match fund money the winner manages to save during the year to put towards a deposit on their own home (up to £2,000 per month).

Television presenter Rick Edwards will be entertaining the public when he comperes the competition in the striking Kensington High Street store.

But it’s not all about laughs. Studio B is staging the competition to draw attention to one of the greatest financial challenges facing younger generations.

A YouGov survey for Studio B found that:

• Almost a quarter (23%) of renters aged 18-40 never expect to be able to afford a deposit on a home
• Almost one in three Londoners (30%) aged 18-40 do not save any money in an average month
• The majority (59%) cite high rent as the single biggest barrier to saving more   

Studio B’s mission is to find innovative solutions to the big financial challenges people face. The competition to celebrate its launch will give one lucky winner the chance to live rent free for a year in the stunning penthouse apartment just five minutes’ walk from the store.

At its heart is an innovation lab, where people from all walks of life will be invited to work with industry partners to create ground-breaking solutions to their money matters. The products and solutions they produce in areas such as voice and facial recognition technology will be tested in-store on bank customers.

Helen Page, Group Innovation & Marketing Director, said:

“Our research lays bare the huge challenge people starting out on their own face and this competition will give a lucky winner a huge helping hand, putting them on track to own their own home.

“This is the whole ethos of Studio B. It’s an open space where we can engage with the next generation of customers to design the next generation of banking.”

Amanda Lamb said:

“This is going to be a really special event. I’d love the chance to live in the Studio B flat and am delighted to play my part in making this dream come true for someone during the competition.”

Rick Edwards said:

“Housing and home ownership pose one of the big social challenges of our time. It’s great that Studio B is actively working to help Generation Rent overcome the hurdles they’re facing.”

Competition Terms and Conditions

The competition will take place at the Studio B store on Kensington High Street on Thursday, April 27th. Entrants will be required to queue up outside the store between 7am until 10am for the first round of the competition which will be a knowledge-based round.  

All entrants must then be contactable by telephone between 10:00am and 11:30am in order to be invited back for the final round should they be in the top 9 of the knowledge-based round.  They will then need to arrive promptly at 12:30pm at the Studio B store with proof of identity, proof of address and proof of employment.  

Once all entrants’ documents have been checked for eligibility, the practical challenge round will be judged by Amanda Lamb between 1:00pm and 2:00pm.  The practical challenge round will include a gardening challenge, a culinary challenge and a DIY challenge.  The winner will be announced at the end of the practical challenge round.  All entrants must be 18 years or older, have the right to live and work in the UK and must be able to move into the property on May 27^th, 2017 for 12 months.

For full competition terms and conditions, visit: www.youandb.co.uk/liverentfree