Panic Rooms

What: You thought it was just for Jodie Foster films and paranoid Russian billionaires of dodgy origin, but actually, more and more ‘normal’ homes are adding panic rooms, along with businesses and five-star hotels. In fact, one New York company now rents out panic rooms globally, with another that will provide made-to-order bunkers.

Why: Because we are all more frightened than we used to be, and our way of dealing with this is to retreat, lock the doors and wait it out.

Why Now: Because apparently the apocalypse is coming, and panic spreads panic. That’s a fact. The more we hear about other people fitting themselves out for extreme threats, the more we twitch to do the same. Oh, and because they add value to your house, apparently

How: There is the basic panic room — a secure, enclosed, air-conditioned space that cannot be broken into, with some way to notify police and a means of storing food and water — but more and more, panic rooms are trading up and the best now come complete with bar, shower and coffee stations. Consider it the new under-basement home cinema/gym. Then there’s the nuclear option

— literally. A panic room that is also a bunker, in case of nuclear, chemical or biological attack.

Who: The mega-rich, the paranoid, and those with genuine enemies. Sandra Bullock recently called the cops from her Beverly Hills panic room after she found an alleged stalker in her house, Madonna apparently has a $2m version behind her office. Kim and Kanye, following their Paris ordeal. Anyone looking for ‘the next big thing’ in real estate.