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

The Mouse-holers Fifty-plus and affluent, these west Londoners, largely from Notting Hill, Bayswater and Holland Park, are bored empty-nesters. With the children gone, they are tired of rattling around their family homes and are amazed to find out just how much their houses are now worth — typically £5m, but sometimes even £10m.

They fancy moving to the country, but don’t want to give up their nights at the opera or the National, nor, more to the point, any future house-price growth. So, before moving out, they buy a bolt hole first, “to limit the time they are out of the London market”, says Alistair Heather, associate at Strutt & Parker’s Notting Hill office. “One of my clients called it ‘mouse-holing’ — keeping a one-bed flat in London.”

May 24, 2025 | 8:51 am