Flat-dwelling

"Curiosity killed the cat" was a proverb often quoted to support not telling children a truth that parents thought was best not shared with them.  I can't vouch for the feline consequences, but curiosity is certainly lethal so far as time is concerned.  I recently wasted an hour or so trying to find out some facts about flat-dwellers.  In particular my quest was simply 'what proportion of people living alone in this country, live in flats?'  Lots of reports touched on one or other characteristic, but nowhere could I find the precise answer to my question ... at least not before giving up the search with the words, 'life's too short!'.

What I did find was that, in 2019, approximately 29.5% of all UK households were single-occupancy, and 'the greater proportion' are men, which could mean as few as 14.8% of households.  But, although owner occupancy by single householders varies from 50% at some ages to 75% at others, nowhere does this seem to be split between flats and detached or semi-detached dwellings.

Whatever that proportion might be, the fact remains that I'm one of them and, in a succession of three dwellings, have been so for the last 21 years.  It's no surprise that, over that time, it's a situation with which I've become familiar and things that others might find peculiar - for example, having two front doors, and hence two front door keys - have become commonplace.

My flat-dwelling familiarity hasn't always been the case.  I'm not suggesting that my parents were snobs - they certainly had no right to be! - but in overheard conversations certain people in the neighbourhood might be referred to thus: 'Old <so-and-so> lives in the flats', the words being uttered in tones that implied that Mr. <so-and-so> was one of a lower class of people, part of a sub-culture that was not to be associated with.  And any suggestion of entering the block of flats to deliver to, or worse, communicate with such people was definitely not to be entertained.

Unquestionably, a block of flats, like any household, has its own smell, that is only noticed briefly on entry and soon becomes part of the normal ambience.  I've noticed this when making deliveries to other blocks on the estate and elsewhere.  Occasionally I've had a visit from a member of the local constabulary, announcing that they've had a report of drugs in the area and asking if I've smelled anything worthy of their attention in this regard.  I'm not sure whether I'm believed, but I usually explain that my sheltered life has meant that I wouldn't be able to identify whether or not an out-of-the-ordinary smell might be drug-related.

I may be fortunate to live in a quiet close, with neighbours who, like me, are busy getting on with their own lives and give me no cause for complaint.  That isn't to say that the place is silent.  In fact, it's quite comforting to have the sound of others nearby.  As I write this I can hear the steady beat of modern music from the flat above, but it's not at a volume to cause interference to my concentration.  Some sounds are of a regular nature, like the couple next door who can be heard nipping outside for a smoke last thing at night, and it's far from uncommon to sit in the toilet and hear a sudden gush in the downpipe just inches from my left ear!  But I know what it is, and that it signifies the existence of life around me, so it's not intrusive.

Occasionally I've developed friendships with my neighbours, but this tends to be the exception rather than the rule.  Usually, the most intense exchanges relate to the taking in of each other's parcels.  The previous owner of the flat next door lived there herself for many years but then moved away and rented it out.  At this point I became her 'eyes and ears' for any threat to her property.  In an earlier flat, I had regularly exchanged greetings with the young lady who lived opposite, but we'd never had a conversation until I was about to move out because my landlord needed to sell the flat.  "I wish I'd known earlier," she told me, "I have a well-paid job in the City and as a result I have savings I want to invest.  I could have bought your flat and you could have stayed there as my tenant."  Such an arrangement would indeed have suited both of us, and that flat was nearer the town centre than my present home, but it wasn't to be.

I think, on balance, that the benefits of not having more rooms to keep clean, having a secure place to park my car - even if I do have to share the closest space on a 'first-come' basis with others who live nearby - and tidy grounds that I don't have to maintain, outweigh the potential of a separate front door onto the street and the constant headache of structural responsibilities.