Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge donates London flat to early-career writers

Phoebe Waller-Bridge has donated a London flat so that early-career writers can afford to live in the capital, The Guardian reported on 4 November 2026. The creator, writer and actress of Fleabag, who is 41, bought the property specifically for Writers' Block, a scheme that works on class barriers in theatre.

Under the arrangement, the flat will be offered to writers from disadvantaged backgrounds, who will pay only the bills. The Guardian also reports that Waller-Bridge has made a financial contribution to the scheme, which the paper describes as generous.

Jack Thorne is also financially backing Writers' Block. Other backers include James Graham, Sally Wainwright, Peter Morgan and Martin McDonagh.

The scheme grew out of the Adopt a Playwright Award, which was founded in 2008 by Sofie Mason and Diana Jervis-Read. Writers' Block also invites Londoners to offer spare rooms to writers, at rates capped at £30 a night or £500 a month. So far, it has signed up 15 homes and helped 12 writers find accommodation.

The effort is rooted in a question of who gets to work in the arts. Research by the Sutton Trust and the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre found that 16% of people working in creative industries came from working-class backgrounds, according to the Guardian's report.