An author was forced to move into a dilapidated old shed full of rats and spiders - because of the "polarising" UK housing crisis.
Catrina Davies has now spent six years living in the iron ramshackle as she says she has no alternative.
The 40-year-old initially thought the building which, back in 2013, had holes and animals in was a temporary solution to her housing problem.
But property prices have soared since and now the writer and musician has "little [other] options".
Speaking to Cornwall Live today, Catrina said: "I was living in a shared house in Bristol and I kind of ran away back to the shed which used to be my dad's office in the 90s. I camped in it. It was supposed to be temporary but then I realised there was very little option for me.
"I really wanted to be here because it feels like home. I am lucky because I had access to this shed."
The woman, of west Cornwall, believes second home ownership in the area has left some locals out of the market.
She continued: "Cornwall is very interesting because it has got this dual economy, this veneer of wealth and yet the actual economy of Cornwall is very deprived.
"For a lot of people growing up here it is hard to leave because you do fall in love with the landscape.
"Twenty years ago you could probably buy a small flat in Cornwall for £20,000 but now it would cost £200,000 and wages have not changed very much at all. I'm paid a bit more but nowhere near enough.
"It is beginning to polarise people because the life you can expect to live is very different depending on whether you bought a house 20 years ago or you didn't."
More than three quarters of neighbourhoods in Cornwall are more deprived than the national average, according to recent statistics. The county is actually among the 50 poorest regions in the whole of Europe.
Catrina's new book, Homesick: Why I Live In A Shed, explores her own journey to Cornwall, her struggle to make it as a musician and writer and the alternative lifestyle she's created here.
In it, she sets her own story within the context of all those struggling to afford a home - local families living in tents every summer to rent out their homes to tourists to help them pay the mortgage or teachers leaving Cornwall because they can't afford a home.
"I wanted to write something that is not about a utilitarian view of the housing crisis - of people in boxes - but that explored the human side of housing, which is about a relationship with a place and the things that housing offer that is not practical, but emotional. It is about having shelter and autonomy and security."
While the tiny shed gives Catrina somewhere to live in the place she calls home, it's a precarious lifestyle and the uncertainty over her future in her tiny space has been a "huge source of anxiety" for her.
She has applied for a lawful development certificate from Cornwall Council to enable her to continue living there in the future.
"Mustering up the courage to do this application took years," she said. "When I realised the book was going to be published it dawned on me that I was going to be drawing attention to myself and I had to get that application in. I hope very much that it will be OK."
Homesick: Why I Live In A Shed is out this week. Catrina Davies appeared at Penzance Literary Festival on Friday and will be in St Ives to launch her book on Thursday. She is also releasing a record of her songs this summer.
