Dear LPG,  

I found a statistic on the internet that states that in 2020, 74% of people over 65 lived in their own homes, which they owned outright. Another website states that in 2022, about 30% of us over 65s also lived alone. This is old news now, but it still needs to be updated.  

I fit into both those categories, and although it is improbable that there is a statistic to show it, people who, for whatever reason, live on their own are likely to identify with their home more than anything else.

I also suspect that many of us have lived in that space for a considerable number of years. Even though the furnishings and what we do in the rooms might have changed, the history associated with each room is still really important to its owners.

There will be memories from before the children moved out and of how much tidying up we needed to do when we shared the space with other people.  I often move around my home happy, knowing that when I put something somewhere, I now know where it will be the next time I need it (although I need to work a bit harder to remember exactly where that might be as my memory has become a bit sketchy in my old age). 

Most of us moved in with our families, and I was no different.  Each member was busy doing this and that, and, at times, we rarely were there together.  Now I think about it, there was little time for parties or family dinners, and then, before I knew it, the rest of the family was gone, and there was just me.

It is all so gradual, but it happened very quickly at the same time. It was all acceptable until we were locked down and had time to appreciate the space we lived in. I remember all the plans I had to make so many improvements during that time that never came to fruition.  

 Some might say that a house is an inanimate object and, as such, the only history that needs to be considered is its state of repair and how much it would yield if you were to sell it, but I am of the opinion that there is more to its value than that. If not, why do so many of us stay in them when they become far too big for us?

We may need to be kinder to them and have more gatherings now that we have the time. Coffee mornings and tea parties are one way to make sure that they don’t become lonely places where no one ever goes except you, and they also are a reason to keep you and the friends around you busy and occupied into the bargain. 

While our houses, like everything else, must conform to one set of statistics or another, perhaps it is essential to do more than just live in them.

WG, Beckenham.