I won’t let lockdown push me out of my beloved London – she needs me more than ever

At 60, with a partner aged 71, people often assume we must crave an escape. I wouldn’t be surprised if the housing markets in all the major cities took a big corona kicking, writes Jenny Eclair

What will buyers in the capital get for their money now? (Getty)

This is an odd time isn’t it? We seem to be edging towards a new normal, but equally we all feel very much poised to quickly come indoors again.

For me, this lockdown lite has meant going out to the park without gloves and a mask and meeting friends to chat from a distance. It’s meant having my daughter and her boyfriend round to sit in the back garden – but not yet staying for supper. Coming out of our shells feels oddly exposing. Is this really safe?

Complicating matters further for many of us is the dilemma of living in a city: will my love affair with London continue if London changes beyond all recognition?

I fell for London both for her looks and personality, and for almost 40 years I have enjoyed all her different characteristics – the generosity of her parks, the excitement of her nightlife, the culture, the history, the river, the shops. London has the best shops in the world. But at the moment, it’s as if someone has thrown a dust sheet over her. I’m terrified that she will never be quite the same again.

This concern could be what’s prompting so many people to start considering a move out of the big cities and into the villages and market towns. Its only been a couple of weeks since estate agents were given the go ahead to start operating again, but in that very short space of time they have already regained a huge amount of lost revenue, shifting from a massive 90 per cent drop in sales during the height of the pandemic to a much healthier 47 per cent fall. Last Wednesday, Rightmove recorded the highest number of daily visits to its website since it launched two decades ago.

So who is going where?

Apparently properties in Cornwall, Devon and Hampshire are receiving the highest number of enquiries. This is pretty unsurprising considering the glorious weather we’ve been having; who wouldn’t want to move somewhere close to the sea. Think of all those beaches that could be yours alone?

I love Cornwall just about more than anywhere that I don’t belong to and cannot claim any family roots there – but could I give up London and relocate to the seaside full time?

Personally I don’t think I could. I’ve been on coastal holidays when the weather is bad and suddenly the face of your pretty resort changes into something a great deal more ugly. That said, I sympathise with anyone browsing for a different life. What’s the point in living in a big town or city when none of its facilities are open and you’re too scared to use its exceptional public transport.

At 60, with a partner aged 71, people often assume we must crave an escape from south London. “Surely,” they suggest, “you could find something much cheaper in the countryside and live on the profits of selling up in London?” Hmm, this might not be an option anymore. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the housing markets in all the major cities took a big corona kicking, particularly London. After all, what are people going to get for their capital city prices in the near future? A dead West End, a terrifyingly unsanitary Tube system and a tiny garden, and that’s for starters.

Lockdown has highlighted the difficulty of living in the metropolis, especially for those that have limited access to fresh air. Will anyone still be interested in all those glossy high rises that offer a small balcony for a multimillion-pound price tag? If your job can be done from home, and you cant use the communal gym, why wouldn’t you move out to somewhere where you can park on the drive and have enough space to knock up your own fitness studio?

Will young people want to stay in the cities if there is nothing to stay for? At the moment, when I go for a walk across Peckham Rye, the park is full of twentysomethings waiting to hear if they still have jobs, many of whom are sharing overpriced rooms in shared houses. The idea of losing all these bright young things is horrific.

Ideally, I’d like my old London back. I want to be jumping on buses with my as-yet-unused over-60 Oyster card, catching a matinee in town and jostling amongst crowds without thinking it could kill me.

So am I tempted to leave? Weirdly I’m not. My big old noisy London town might not be the girl she used to be, but I’m not going to leave her now. Not in her darkest hour, not when she needs us most. London needs Londoners to nurse her back to health, and fingers crossed she’ll be showing off again very soon.

So while I cannot wait to visit Cornwall, the lakes and any number of beautiful places up and down the country, London is my home. However tempting that coastal cottage with a garden full of roses might seem, I won’t be abandoning her any time soon.