Expensive fitness facilities might seem a tough sell in a cost of living crisis. But for young people in crowded or dilapidated house shares, the high price for a haven can be worth paying
T
he best part of Owen Willis’s day is his morning shower. Notes of lavender and eucalyptus waft through his private, stone-tiled shower room as he uses a £32 bottle of Cowshed bodywash. He dries off with a fluffy white towel before slathering on Cowshed body lotion (£24).
This isn’t Willis’s home, however. It’s his gym. He belongs to Third Space in London, which calls itself a “luxury health club”. Memberships start at £230 a month for an individual site and go as high as £305 for access to all of its branches, including the Mayfair club, where gym-goers can expect “UV-treated fresh air” and “a Himalayan sea-salt walled sauna and steam room”.
The 23-year-old, who works in marketing, has been a member since he was 18. He describes it as his “second home”, where he estimates he spends about 22 hours a week. “It’s a massive part of my life,” he says. It is also a massive part of his income: his membership sets him back £279 a month – which, when he started going, was about 10% of his monthly wage.
