While some people might have been able to take the financial hit of moving out pre-pandemic, the subsequent cost-of-living crisis and fall in real wages – with this year seeing the largest decline since records began – mean that people who might once have been able to afford to live alone are now stuck living with former partners. In particular, rapid rises in interest rates means that some people are choosing to wait out the current crisis in order to avoid being hit with higher mortgage costs. “Although Covid isn’t impacting our lives in the same way now, there are still lots of wild political and economic variables,” says Tucker.
