I saved for my first house by making TikTok videos and selling jewellery on Depop

More Brits than ever are side hustling their way to home ownership

While completing a demanding nursing degree, which required up to 40 hours a week of unpaid placements, Anya knew a standard part-time job simply wasn’t realistic. Instead, she turned her love of collecting sea glass from her local beach into a jewellery business.

“I treated the jewellery like a little after-hours project,” Anya explained. “I’d make pieces in the evenings, photograph them and then list them on Depop at weekends, fitting admin into whatever spare moments I had.”

Starting with little more than basic jewellery-making supplies and low-cost packaging, Anya kept expenses manageable by using locally sourced sea glass and reinvesting every penny she made back into the business.

“The biggest thing was starting small and not taking money out too early,” she said. “Once sales proved there was demand, I expanded into my own website and eventually wholesale.”

Her careful strategy paid off quickly. Within a month, Anya was making profits. Within two years, her jewellery side hustle had earned £10,000, rising to £12,000 by the time she graduated. She later expanded beyond Depop, launching her own website and securing stockists in 17 stores across Wales.

That income ultimately funded half of the deposit on her three-bedroom home, which she purchased with her husband in July 2022. The rest came from a mix of babysitting, TikTok content creation and paid nursing shifts.

“TikTok was actually what inspired me to start,” Anya said. “Posting simple, authentic videos of collecting sea glass, making jewellery and showing finished pieces really helped build trust.”

Her story reflects a wider trend among aspiring first-time buyers.

New research commissioned by Santander found that 49% of hopeful homeowners are now relying on side hustles to boost their house deposit savings. On average, these side hustlers are making an extra £442.62 per month, dedicating around seven extra hours a week to additional work.

While traditional options like dog walking (17%) and online surveys (39%) remain popular, some would-be buyers are exploring more unconventional routes, from selling personalised crafts (19%) and gardening (20%) to stranger pursuits like becoming a “social media witch” (12%) or even selling used socks (11%).

Despite the unusual options, the goal remains serious: 64% of side hustlers are saving most or all of this additional income directly towards a home deposit.

And while almost one in five buyers still mistakenly believe you need a minimum of £50,000 as a deposit on a first home, Santander’s My First Mortgage offers up to 98% LTV with a £10,000 deposit.

Additionally, the lender has recently launched an exclusive first-time buyer limited access savings accounts, paying 4% interest when a customer makes two or less withdrawals every month. 

Data from the lender found that the average aspiring buyer today has around £9,000 in their savings account, highlighting just how achievable a deposit could be with a little extra push. 

For Anya, having a clear long-term goal was key.

“It helps to have a goal in mind,” she said. “For me, homeownership was always the ultimate aim.”

Her advice for others hoping to follow a similar path is straightforward: “Start with something you genuinely enjoy, keep it small at first, and don’t wait for the perfect time because it never comes.”

With affordability challenges continuing to push homeownership further out of reach for many young buyers, stories like Anya’s highlight how entrepreneurial thinking and digital platforms are reshaping the traditional route to buying a first home.