I was happy living alone in my studio flat. But the long, dark solitude of lockdown changed everything

Solo living offered sanctuary after mental ill health. Then came our coronavirus summer, and I felt a new yearning for community

When I moved into my tiny top-floor studio flat in 2018, it was a blank page. After the removal men had gone, I stood in the middle of the one-room apartment, just me and my boxes and bed linen in bin bags, and worked out I could walk the length of the place in nine steps. Still, it was mine, just mine (for as long as I was willing to pay the extortionate rent).

For the previous eight months, I had been living on a blow-up bed in a box room in the home of my enormously generous friends and their baby son. After a lengthy period of mental ill health (with a stint in a psychiatric hospital followed by a bad breakup and a period of unemployment), I was taken in by my friends, who treated me as one of the family and helped me heal. When it was time to move on, I thought living alone would give my mental health the best chance of continued recovery. It could be a retreat, a place where I didn’t have to pretend to be well, or sane, if I wasn’t. A place where I didn’t have to “belong”.

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I was happy living alone in my studio flat. But the long, dark solitude of lockdown changed everything

Solo living offered sanctuary after mental ill health. Then came our coronavirus summer, and I felt a new yearning for community

When I moved into my tiny top-floor studio flat in 2018, it was a blank page. After the removal men had gone, I stood in the middle of the one-room apartment, just me and my boxes and bed linen in bin bags, and worked out I could walk the length of the place in nine steps. Still, it was mine, just mine (for as long as I was willing to pay the extortionate rent).

For the previous eight months, I had been living on a blow-up bed in a box room in the home of my enormously generous friends and their baby son. After a lengthy period of mental ill health (with a stint in a psychiatric hospital followed by a bad breakup and a period of unemployment), I was taken in by my friends, who treated me as one of the family and helped me heal. When it was time to move on, I thought living alone would give my mental health the best chance of continued recovery. It could be a retreat, a place where I didn’t have to pretend to be well, or sane, if I wasn’t. A place where I didn’t have to “belong”.

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A guide to sorting out your broadband connection when moving home Nottingham Estate Agents

Moving home can be stressful enough and so decisions about broadband might be the very last thing on your mind. Here Broadband Genie provides eight top tips to help make the process easier Of all the utilities you need to consider when moving home, broadband is the one with the most potential for causing a […]

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Confidence in UK housing market at four-year high, say estate agents

Pandemic-driven stamp duty cuts and lockdown has increased demand for homes with gardens

Stamp duty cuts, coupled with increased demand for homes with gardens since the pandemic, has driven confidence in the housing market to a four-year high, according to surveyors and estate agents.

A net balance of 44% of members of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) reported an increase in prices, the strongest reading since 2016, according to its latest monthly snapshot. This compares with 13% in July and marks a dramatic turnaround from the -33% registered in May. Virtually all parts of the UK are now seeing prices increase. The only exception is London, where Rics members reported that prices have remained more or less flat over the past two months.

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Favourite fixer upper Nottingham Estate Agents

It’s true this derelict country house needs more than a bit of TLC, but what a chance to restore an architectural gem. Built in 1838 by George Francis Wyndham, the fourth Earl of Egremont, Blackborough House is set within approximately 10.4 acres. It is for sale for offers in excess of £400,000 and is marketed […]

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Star property over £500,000 Nottingham Estate Agents

If you had to paint a picture of the perfect period country home, then it would probably look something like this. As well as the glorious rolling thatch, Whistlers has an abundance of character features including exposed beams, feature fireplaces and flagstones floors. The property is for sale with price available on application and is […]

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Star property under £250,000 Nottingham Estate Agents

With a view like this, you’d be forgiven for thinking this penthouse was priced in the millions – but you’d be wrong. Apartment 2 at Savoy Court is one of 10 flats in a newly converted building located in the centre of Penzance. It is for sale for £249,950 is marketed by Lillicrap Chilcott, Truro […]

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