THERE can’t be many things more stressful than moving house.

First you have to search through pages upon pages of adverts, gazing longingly at pictures of what could be your perfect home, but is way out of your price range.

Then, when you’ve tracked down a few which look like they might be at least somewhat liveable – or at least appear to be from a tiny photo of what could be a front door but may also be a bed – there’s the ordeal of trying to fit viewings around other commitments and relying on the agent not to cancel on you ten minutes before you were due to meet them after you’d already got up early and driven 80 miles.

Being single and childless is something of a double-edged sword in this regard – I don’t have to worry about finding somewhere with enough space for youngsters to cause chaos without doing themselves any lasting damage which also meets the approval of another person.

But just try and find a one-bedroom flat which isn’t just a bedsit in someone’s attic at a reasonable price – it’s harder than you might think.

Once you’ve finally managed to track down somewhere which at least has some walls and a roof and maybe a window if you’re really lucky you have to go through the rigmarole of providing the letting agent with roughly a million documents with your name on to prove you do, in fact, exist and wait for them to do whatever it is they do.

Thankfully the agent which manages the flat I’ve picked has a helpful online tracker which shows you the process of the application so you know whether you need to give your current landlord a firm but friendly reminder about a reference.

I say thankfully – in reality it’s meant I’ve just pressed refresh on the same page roughly every 30 seconds for the past week.

As I write this I still don’t know if I’ve got the flat I’ve applied for – although I don’t foresee getting a damning reference from my landlord or failing a credit check, it is more than a little stressful given I need to be moving at the end of next week.

But, stressful though it is, it’s also exciting. Although the flat I’m waiting to be given the keys for is far from palatial, it’s a decent step up from where I live at the moment.

It even has a kitchen which isn’t also the living room and windows that open.

Luxury.