Why the housing market is particularly cruel to single women
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.
