I’m a 21st-century woman, fully educated and employed, and my ability to keep a roof over my head currently depends on either a) the wealth of my father or b) finding a boyfriend. Let me explain.
I have an Oxbridge degree, I’m in a good job, I earn well over the national average income of £26,500 (according to the Office for National Statistics) – yet I cannot afford to rent even a one-bed flat in London, where I work. After four years of sharing with strangers in haphazard arrangements which inevitably turned sour, I moved into a small flat in the south of the city. But, to my shame, I’m being bailed out to the tune of £700 a month by my retired parents. Outside London, this sum would be enough for a decent-sized house. Here, it is slightly under half the rent for a 50 sq.m flat – and that’s before bills and council tax.
Desperate to stop this haemorrhaging of nearly £18,000 a year (not far off the salary of an essential worker such as a firefighter) yet not willing to pay £800-900 a month to house-share in my thirties like a student, I decided to investigate the affordable housing scheme promoted by the Government on First Steps.
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