Would you live in one of the narrowest houses in the UK?

The Feet-in-Two-Camps Brigade This group loves the idea of countryside, space and good schools, but is afraid that moving lock, stock and barrel to pastures new would burn too many financial bridges. So, these thirtysomethings, who usually have young children, are renting out their two-bedroom Georgian or Victorian flats in locations such as Islington, north London, and using the income to buy a home surrounded by hills and dales.

“Rental returns in Islington have reached such heights — £2,300 a month for a two-bedroom flat — that this will go towards the mortgage on a three-or four-bedroom home [in the countryside],” says Dan Saunders, branch manager of Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward in Islington. He estimates that about 70% of his clients who let their homes are looking to buy in counties within commuting distance of London, typically Hertfordshire or Kent. “In some cases, a country home is only 30 or 40 minutes away from the City,” he says.

May 24, 2025 | 8:51 am