We had already sold and moved out of our Edinburgh flat a couple of times – and always ended up buying it back again. There was something about the sensible dimensions of the rooms, as well as the flat’s convenient position in the neighbourhood. We simply could not find anything we preferred elsewhere.

Now, with the possibility that my mother might come and live with us, we really needed somewhere with a little extra space. Was it really sensible to sell again?

Then we remembered the suite of unused rooms in our sub-basement. It was the time to check their state and redecorate. If we put in a stair-lift, my mother would have her own space downstairs, yet still be able to pop up to see us whenever she wanted.

The main issue was access to the basement through the hall of our next door neighbours’ house. Even though it was breakfast time, we felt that we should act immediately. So we walked through the small ‘human flap’ in our neighbours’ front door, then made our way to the internal stairs that led to the sub-basement.

SO, still in her nightdress, stopped us in our tracks. She was not happy to hear our plans, largely because she was currently (illegally) renting out the space downstairs to several students. She also disputed its ownership.

On the basis of our initial enquiries, it looked like we would need to call in our lawyers to confirm that the additional accommodation was indeed ours, and to evict the squatters.