The Resolution Foundation says the pandemic has prompted a search for inside and outside space, but that was unthinkable for many currently living in overcrowded homes.

The Foundation, in a report issued over the weekend, says that since February 2020 average house prices have risen over 10 per cent in the least densely populated 10 per cent of local authorities in the UK.

This is compared to rises of six per cent in the most populous areas.

The Foundation warns that one-in-five children are in low-income households who spent the first lockdown in an overcrowded home, and people of all age groups were more likely to live in overcrowded conditions now than they were at the start of the century 21 years ago.

Cara Pacitti, economist at the Resolution Foundation, comments: “For many families, escaping to the country is no more than a pipe dream, and the overcrowding that they have faced during the pandemic must be addressed.”