Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge buys a London flat and hands it rent-free to struggling playwrights from disadvantaged backgrounds
Phoebe Waller-Bridge bought the £1 million flat solely for the Writers' Block initiative, with the resident paying bills only while she covers rent entirely.
Waller-Bridge, 41, bought the London flat specifically to donate its use to Writers' Block, a new scheme backed by the Omnibus Theatre in Clapham that links emerging playwrights from disadvantaged backgrounds with affordable accommodation. Residents pay only bills, with Waller-Bridge also making a separate financial contribution to the initiative.
Only 16% of UK creatives come from working-class backgrounds — the gap the scheme directly targets.
'Adolescence' co-creator Jack Thorne, James Graham, Sally Wainwright and 'The Crown' writer Peter Morgan are among the backers; in its pilot year, 15 homes signed up and 12 writers were housed.
One writer estimates the scheme saves her £850 a month; another puts his annual saving at up to £6,000.
