Ever thought about LIVING WITH FRIENDS?

Forget taking a lover, the real midlife fantasy is moving in with your pals. Find out what it's like - and what you need to consider

- CHRISTABEL SMITH

Many of us have dreamt of moving in with our friends – even if it’s just a flight of fancy. The fun! The freedom! Whether you’re single or weary of living with the same person, it could offer you a new lease of life. A grown-up version of those student days or your first flatshare – except with more space and money, and no need to stick your name on the milk.

Actress Joanna Lumley – married for 35 years – has declared she and her friends have a plan: ‘Rather than reach the stage where we’re old and alone, we plan to buy a big house, install a housekeeper and enjoy our twilight years.’

We can all dream, but in reality, what would midlife cohabiting truly be like? Sally-mae Joseph knows, because in 2016, she and two friends bought a house together.

‘It all started over a drink in the pub with a friend I’d met through the local choir. I was 65, divorced, with four grownup kids and nine grandchildren, and I wanted to retire from teaching.

‘I’d been thinking of downsizing to release equity from my house, but when my widowed friend said she’d been mulling over the prospect of buying a house with female friends, we began to get excited. It felt like a huge adventure when four of us started house-hunting, though other people thought we were nuts. We were able to look at big houses that would have been beyond my wildest dreams on my own. And our enthusiasm was undiminished, even when one dropped out, realising she couldn’t face sharing a kitchen.