A mother has been slammed online after she made two weird conditions for renting a room for £400 a month in south London.
The listing stated that an Italian family sought a live-in tenant to care for their “very sweet” children at their Clapham residence for three hours each day, Monday through Friday.
This means the tenant would then have to have found their own place to stay on the weekend. That’s unless they were the “right person”, who would have been “considered” for the full week.
The listing was up on Spare Room for £400 a month, though has since been altered following online criticism.
It has now been listed for £600 a month after being removed by Spare Room, without the requirement to babysit, though tenants will still have to find weekend accommodation elsewhere, reported LBC.
The new description reads: “Hi, we are renting out a room in our family house. You will have a double room and bathroom. Living room and kitchen are shared. We are looking for someone very clean, organised and respectful.”
However, the original listing has been subject to intense criticism online.
One person wrote on Reddit: “[The landlord] obviously considered the £200 difference a ‘wage’. This, somehow, is worse (and I bet you’ll be left with the little cherubs anyway.”
Another said: “It never fails to amaze me how people will cheap out on paying people to look after their most precious possessions-ie their own children.”
Spare Room allows property owners to list bedrooms on the site for rent, allowing tenants to move in with people who already live in the house, which is often cheaper than living alone.
A spokesperson for Spare Room told LBC: “We review each of these ads on a case by case basis, factoring in the help requested, the hours involved, and the rent amount. On this occasion, after taking these things into account, we decided to remove the ad.
“Ads with discounted rent in exchange for help around the house do come up from time to time and they can work well for both sides if the setup is suitable.”
They added: “The advertiser has now re-listed the room, removing the childcare element. They’ve offered the room Monday to Friday, which is nothing new and is reasonably common when people are taking in lodgers, particularly in London.
“With so many people now working in the office on a hybrid basis, having somewhere to stay during the week, then going home for the weekend, can work well for both the lodger and the person offering the room.”
Express.co.uk contacted Spare Room for a comment.
