It is a phenomenon that Nilu Ahmed, a behavioural psychologist at the University of Bristol, has noted. “Being physically unable to spend time with loved ones because of social distancing really brought priorities into focus – if they were living closer, they could have at least met in public spaces,” she said.

A survey conducted this summer by Savills found that moving to be nearer family was the second-most important priority after gaining more space among buyers in every region except London. Frances Clacy, of the estate agency, said: “Lifestyle choices made during lockdown, or brought forward, have almost totally dominated decision making over the past year and look set to do so over coming months.”

Some are calling the phenomenon the “pandemic push” and it has been facilitated in large part by the increased ability to work from home. It has meant Julia Collins and her sister, Lorna MacDonald, will in April this year be able to move more than 400 miles to live next door to each other.

“The pandemic has given us and our husbands the opportunity to work flexibly and so during endless lockdown video calls, Lorna and I got to chatting about where we would ideally want to live. We both decided we wanted to be out in the country and closer to our mum and dad in Inverness-shire,” said Mrs Collins, 44, who works for the charity Scottish Book Trust and lives in Kirkliston, west of Edinburgh.

She and Ms MacDonald, 47, who lives in London and runs a gardening company, initially tried to find a house they could split between themselves and their husbands, but didn’t come across anything that fitted the bill. Instead, they have bought identical four-bedroom houses next to each other in the Athron Hill development, which is being built in 150 acres of grounds in the countryside outside Kinross. “It wouldn’t have been possible to do this move without the changes that happened due to Covid,” said Mrs Collins.

When family members aren’t around, friends have increasingly bubbled up. This is the case for Stefano Sirianni, a doctor-turned-gymnastics coach, and his friends Santo Pate, a chef, and Angelina Scalzo, a nurse. The trio used to rent together but now live in neighbouring one-bedroom flats in the Acton Gardens housing development in west London.