Phoebe Waller-Bridge has given a rent-free London flat to aspiring playwrights

Actress and screenwriter Phoebe Waller-Bridge bought a flat in London and handed it over as part of the new theatre initiative Writers' Block: the occupant pays only for utilities. The scheme is aimed at playwrights from low-income families, for whom living in the capital is expensive.

Aziz KarimovFirst published on tafs uz 5 November 2026 at 02:322 min read

The key facts

Phoebe Waller-Bridge bought and donated a flat in London for the Writers' Block scheme — rent-free, the occupant only pays bills
Financial support is also provided by Jack Thorne, James Graham, Sally Wainwright, Peter Morgan and the actress's partner Martin McDonagh
Writers' Block grew out of the Adopt a Playwright Award initiative, founded in 2008

A flat for aspiring writers

Phoebe Waller-Bridge, the creator and star of the series Fleabag, has bought a flat in London specifically for aspiring writers who cannot afford housing in the capital, and has handed it over to the new theatre initiative Writers' Block. This was reported by BBC News. The flat is provided rent-free — the occupant only pays utility bills. In addition to the housing, the actress also made a 'generous financial contribution', as the scheme's organisers described it.

Who supports the scheme and why it matters

Financial support for Writers' Block also comes from Jack Thorne, co-writer of the series Adolescence, author of the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and screenwriter of the films Wonder and Enola Holmes. He said that at the start of his career he lived with his brother in Croydon for five years, and stressed: 'For many writers, the need to have a roof over their head makes writing impossible.' In his words, if a writer is unlucky in their background, a significant part of their energy goes into survival rather than creativity.

From class barrier to the stage

Among the other participants in the scheme are playwright James Graham (author of Ink, Quiz and Dear England), Happy Valley creator Sally Wainwright, The Crown writer Peter Morgan, as well as Waller-Bridge's partner, screenwriter and director Martin McDonagh, known for the Oscar-winning The Banshees of Inisherin and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Graham called the initiative a fight against the class barrier: in his view, the industry, while striving for representation, still 'lets down the biggest under-represented group — class', and every spare room saves an aspiring writer from 'giving up writing altogether'. The scheme itself grew out of the Adopt a Playwright Award initiative, founded in 2008, which offered affordable housing to playwrights from disadvantaged backgrounds who needed to be in the capital for meetings, rehearsals and performances. Both programmes were created by Sophie Mason and Diana Jevis-Reed.