‘I fell in love with the original features like the cast-iron columns, exposed brick walls and high wooden ceilings’
My story
I'd previously bought a flat in Hackney with my ex, but when we split in 2017, he bought me out. This gave me a good deposit, but it wasn't enough to buy as a single person in London. It didn't cross my mind to move back north as I had a fantastic group of friends and loved my job. When lockdown was announced, I was staying with my parents for a weekend so got stuck in Oldham, on the edge of the Peak District, with just a handful of clothes and my work laptop. It was quite nice being home though, which planted a seed about moving back.
That summer I returned to London, but everything was closed. I realised I was paying a lot of rent without getting the benefits of the city. Since I was now working from home, I
