Phoebe Waller-Bridge Donates London Flat for Early-Career Writers

Phoebe Waller-Bridge has bought and donated a London flat so that early-career writers from disadvantaged backgrounds can afford to live in the capital. The creator of Fleabag purchased the property specifically for Writers' Block, a new scheme tackling class barriers in theatre, and has also made what the initiative described as a "generous financial contribution".

Writers placed in the flat will pay only their bills.

Who is backing the scheme?

The screenwriter Jack Thorne, who co-created Adolescence and wrote Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, is also supporting the scheme financially. He drew on his own early experience in the capital.

"I was lucky when I started out, my brother lived in Croydon and was able to put me up," Thorne said. "He did so, rather selflessly, for five years, before I moved to Luton and he got his peace.

"For many writers, the need for a roof makes writing impossible, which is why this pilot is so important. If we want stories told about our complicated world, we need writers of every background writing them. If you're from privilege, your biggest problem is what to fill a page with. If you're not, so much of your struggle is about the need to survive."

Other backers include:

• The playwright and screenwriter James Graham, who wrote stage shows including Ink, Quiz and Dear England
• The Happy Valley creator Sally Wainwright
• The Crown's Peter Morgan
• Waller-Bridge's partner Martin McDonagh, who wrote and directed films including The Banshees of Inisherin and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

What does the research show about class in the creative industries?

Research by the Sutton Trust and the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre found that just 16% of people working in the creative industries came from working-class backgrounds. The research also found that class imbalances were more pronounced in the creative sector than in any other.

Graham said the industry's efforts to improve representation continued to overlook class. "The industry's urgent pursuit of representation is still letting down the biggest area of under-representation of all, which is class," he said.

"When I first made it to London, I slept on friends' floors and worked in call centres and bars while I wrote. Every spare room a scheme like this can give to writers starting out in London, not only helps them write but saves them from giving up completely."

How does Writers' Block work?

The scheme grew out of the Adopt a Playwright Award, founded in 2008 by Sofie Mason and Diana Jervis-Read to provide affordable accommodation for writers who need to be in London for meetings, rehearsals, performances and career opportunities.

Writers' Block invites Londoners to offer spare rooms at reduced rates, capped at £30 a night or £500 a month. It has signed up 15 homes and helped 12 writers find accommodation, ranging from overnight stays to longer-term placements.

The organisers say the scheme could appeal to older people living alone who would welcome companionship and extra income but feel uncomfortable advertising a room to strangers.

With Waller-Bridge's flat now in the portfolio and figures such as Thorne, Graham, Wainwright, Morgan and McDonagh lending financial weight, the pilot has the resources to test whether housing alone can keep working-class writers in an industry where only 16% come from those backgrounds.