A landlord has sparked controversy listing a room to rent at £750 a month – but you’ll have to sleep on a sofa and share the property with tourists.
The flat is available in Crouch End, in north London.
While the rent is on the cheaper side for this part of the capital, there are plenty of catches.
For one, you would not only be a tenant but expected to act as a live-in “host” and prepare the rooms for potential guests.
Meanwhile, the bed up for grabs is a pull-out sofa next to the open plan kitchen – the latter of which would be shared between all residents.
In other words, any tourists visiting would have to pop into your bedroom when they need a snack.
The Spareroom listing has gone viral on X, racking up 630,000 views so far.
The space is described as a “sunny front room for live in host”, with the description further explaining: “Furnished studio with pull out sofa bed with shared bathroom.
“Looking for a live-in Airbnb host to manage 2 other rooms, which are generally rented for week to 2 week stays.
“Some guests occasionally use the kitchen which is open plan but hours can be restricted for privacy.
“Guests self check in, would just require preparing rooms 6-8 times per month.”
The room is available for two months, with a possibility to extend and includes bills.
The landlord has also added that they could provide additional storage space for a few suitcases in the attic and a clothes rail if required.
The post – which has over 10,000 likes – has left social media users shocked.
“This landlord on Spareroom wants you to pay £750 a month to have the privilege of looking after his Airbnb and checking guests in,” the caption reads.
“You don’t get your own room, you get the living room and the guests can come in and use the kitchen!”
Spareroom told Luxury Property News that it has since removed the listing – but not before hundreds of people shared their thoughts.
One person wrote: “So they want this person to pay for doing a job.”
“Modern slavery, and desperate people will fall for things like this,” another person commented.
Someone else added: “For me the worst thing would be having to share your home with a constant stream of total strangers and NOT have your own lockable, room. Anything could go wrong and probably will.”
“Lordddd the rental market is WILD,” another user said.
Another viewer wrote: “That’s… nah I’m in shock.”
“You pay to be a housekeeper omg,” said another.
Someone else added: “Greed has gone mad.”
“London, you’re seriously doomed,” another user commented.
Matt Hutchinson, director at SpareRoom, told Luxury Property News: “We removed this ad from our site for two reasons.
“Firstly because the room, located in the open-plan living room and kitchen area, was deemed by our moderators to be unsuitable.
“Although described as a studio, the kitchen was to be used by other guests, which meant that it didn’t offer enough privacy for the tenant.
“Also, while we do allow some ads which offer work in exchange for cheaper rents, we review these on a case-by-case basis to make sure the requirements are reasonable.
“In this case, this ad reads more like a job that comes with accommodation, rather than a room that comes with a few hours of work. SpareRoom is a platform that helps people find somewhere to live, not a work platform for live-in employees.”
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