Introduction

Joanne was an asset manager in London, living in a flat in one of the many new-build riverfront developments in the Battersea and Nine Elms areas of South London. She moved into the development in 2019, attracted by the proximity to her place of work, a profusion of local bars and restaurants but also the on-site facilities, a concierge, and gym among them. But during the lockdown of 2020, her attitude to her home changed. “I spent seven weeks isolated there and realized that I absolutely hated it,” she recounted, continuing, “When you take away all the amenities that these developments advertise, then you realize you’re just living in a glass box”. Come the summer, Joanne sold her flat, pooled resources with her partner, and bought a detached house in Datchworth Green, Hertfordshire, some 30 miles out of the capital (www.bbc. co.uk/news/business-53670199).

Joanne's case suggests that the quote from Rogers and Power at the beginning of the chapter about the impact of isolation has more than a ring of truth to it. Moreover, Joanne's case is far from isolated. During lockdown, property agents revealed that there had been a surge of interest among Londoners for properties elsewhere. More than half of the online property searches were for homes in rural locations, with Rightmove reporting that searches for houses with gardens reached an alltime high in April 2020. For some, this was no doubt about cashing in on the inflated prices of London property compared with the rest of the country (Hamnett and Reades, 2019). In 2009 just one percent of Londoners leaving the capital left to live in the north of the country, but by 2019 this had reached 13 percent with the larger cheaper homes available around ‘buzzing’ northern cities like Leeds and Newcastle proving a particular draw (Booth and Campbell, 2019). But for many looking to move out of London post-lockdown it appeared the sentiments they were expressing were ones akin to those voiced by Joanne: lockdown meant they simply wanted a bigger home with more outdoor space (see also Hyra and Lees, Chapter Three).