Born and bred Londoner Jemma Smith had been firmly priced out of her home city. So when the pandemic freed her from the daily commute she decided to cast her net wider, and found herself starting a new life 130 miles north, in the Midlands city of Derby.
Paying the mortgage and bills on her brand new two-bedroom city centre house costs her less each month than renting a room in a shared flat in Shepherd’s Bush used to.
