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Chances are, if you’re currently addicted to TikTok — who isn’t? — you’ve seen a bougie house tour on your For You page. You know the sort of thing: expansive roof terraces, exposed brick walls, kitchens you could play football in; all filmed with TikTok’s bling filter on, as if they needed to look any more luxurious. But what about ‘micro-living’ content? One-room rented apartments, euphemistically referred to as “studios” by the landlords that dictate our lives and incomes, are becoming more and more popular on the app.
For most of us, particularly those living in hub cities like London, New York or LA, housing options are increasingly limited. Young millennials and generation Z can choose from living in a house share, sometimes with friends but often with strangers found on RightMove, Gypsy Housing or Spare Room, or staying at home in our childhood bedrooms long into adulthood. According to the Office of National Statistics, there has been a 46% rise in the number of young people living with their parents in the last two decades. Out of all the people who live alone in the UK, less than 20% are under the age of 34. For many, the idea of having an entire apartment to yourself is a pipe dream, but that doesn’t stop us window-shopping wistfully via TikTok’s 60-second snippets.
EMILY GARBUTT 