Modern nightmare: working from home in a studio flat

My partner and I work full time but we can only afford a studio flat on our combined salaries. The problem is I'm self employed and his employer expects him to work from home alone for tasks like focused research - his employer provides him with an office but says he can't work there as he needs his big computer screen at home.

I need to practise and record a presentation involving sensitive information. That means I have to speak out loud, without distracting him, or him distracitng me. I can't do it outside in public on the street as I need no one else around to hear.

This is a serious problem, because both our livelihoods depend on it. If I can’t record presentations or he can't work on his big screen, we both risk losing income altogether.

I have nowhere else to go:

• I don’t have a car to sit and work from.
• The local park is always full of people, and I need to speak aloud with sensitive info I'm not allowed to let them hear
• Our small patio garden is just 2m x 4m and surrounded by 15 neighbours, all with open windows. There's no privacy.
• Nearby cafes are no good either. They’re busy, and each has only one toilet, so I can’t stay long inside a locked toilet either.

This is a modern problem. Twenty years ago:

• Rents were far cheaper relative to income, so you could afford a flat with actual rooms.
• You didn’t need to record videos for work and it was easy to find somewhere to practise presentations out loud, and easy to find somewhere to work alone (e.g. a room at home)
• Offices used to provide full equipment, like proper screens, not just make you use a laptop
• Parks were less crowded, and coffee shops were often empty... it was so easy to find quiet and privacy. If anything, we were more sociable back then as we had more space to think alone.

Today, to have space to work alone, you need a much higher salary than most jobs provide.. it’s a frustrating thing.. the expectations of today, without the space or income to meet them..

Btw, this is in West London.