Is the house party era now completely over?

Can you remember the last time you danced in a stranger's kitchen til 3am? House parties are so retro that Stormzy has opened a bar in Soho that tries to recreate their magic. Maddy Mussen explores how the tradition died and wonders if they can ever be saved

- Maddy Mussen

ALEX has never hosted a house party in London.

She's 26, moved to the capital three years ago, and says her flat is "too tiny" to ever be suitable for hosting.

It's not just her. Despite going out regularly in 2021 and 2022, Alex's party destinations were rarely homes. She can remember the last house party she went to it was last October for Halloween.

"Since then the amount I go out in general has gone down massively due to the cost of living," she says. "So now I only go out maybe once a month or every two months."

These days, it feels as if the cost-of-clubbing crisis causes a party angel to lose their wings every 15 seconds in the capital. Alex says she'd "definitely" go out more if her friends hosted more house parties, but they just don't.

She reckons this is due to a mix of problems: limited space, living apart from mates, and neighbours. Unlike university, young people in London are just as likely to live next to an elderly couple or wailing baby as they are a fellow young person.

"Babies and families," Alex says. "I live in an apartment building where there are lots of married couples."

Living wall-to-wall with strangers has always been the case in London, but the renting crisis has meant that people cling onto their housing situations and their deposits - with a far tighter grasp than they did before.