London’s housing crisis is nothing new. However, a recent viral Reddit post has highlighted the absurdity of landlords looking to make some extra cash.
Now deleted ad for a one-bedroom flat in Notting Hill (SpareRoom)
The advertisement, which was posted on SpareRoom, the UK’s biggest website for finding flatmates, pictures a bunkbed above a kitchen for over £1000 per calendar month. The redditor captioned the image “this has to be a joke of some kind”.
The ad has since been deleted, but listings for rooms and flats like this are not rare in London. One offered a sofa for £750 a month that would make Harry Potter’s cupboard under the stairs quite enviable.
Reddit
While the absurdity of the studio for rent may be comical, it shines light on how some landlords take advantage of people desperate to find a place to stay in London.
Ben Leonard, a political officer from Acorn Housing, revealed that the reasons for high rent and the lack of regulations in the private housing center are complex.
‘On a legal basis, the landlord is free to charge whatever rent they think somebody might be willing to pay’, he said, ‘so it’s a question of why they feel confident doing it’.
“It would be politically controversial for anyone really to run on a platform of reducing house prices” Ben says.
‘We’ve had successive governments of all major political parties, who have been committed to maintaining or increasing house prices, really, since the 80s and 90s’.
A man walks past placards advertising houses for sale and rent in London (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
‘Let’s see if the landlord managed to rent out that studio for £1000. I don’t know who’d pay that, to be honest, but perhaps somebody very desperate will.’
Asked how the Renter’s Rights Bill coming into effect in May would help improve the problem of apparently absurd room rentals, Ben was less than optimistic.
He says some people have criticised the bill for failing to address initial affordability or the standards of homes.
‘People are often so desperate that [landlords] can get away with it’
This photo shows housing in central London (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
The new legislation will focus on reducing rent increases and preventing no-fault or revenge evictions instead.
Unlike most European countries, including Scotland, England does not have rent control, allowing landlords to charge whatever rent price they see fit.
‘The primary sector, generally, is pretty unregulated, really, and has been more or less since Thatcher’.
This photo shows housing in central London (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
But there are some protections for tenants. This includes hazards like structural defects or damp and mould in your home under the Homes Act 2018, where tenants can take legal action against landlords if they breach regulations.
There are also laws that protect those living in the houses of multiple occupancy, where two or more households share basic amenities like a kitchen, bathroom and other living spaces.
Those have to meet certain requirements, says Ben, but “generally speaking, it’s not nearly as regulated as other sectors”.
A man walks past an estate agents window (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
In a statement SpareRoom tells City News:
“We have strict rules on the condition of rooms advertised on our platform and we remove ads that we don’t feel are suitable, whether that be due to size, layout, living conditions or safety concerns.
‘We may suspend a user while we make them aware their room is not suitable. If they repeatedly advertise unsafe properties, despite our warnings, then we permanently ban them from our site.
‘Ads that break our terms and conditions will either be picked up by our automated systems, or our human checks, and we also urge users to flag, immediately, any ads that don’t look right using the ‘report this ad’ button.”
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HeadlineOnly in London: £1000 to Sleep in a Kitchen
Short HeadlineOnly in London: £1000 to Sleep in a Kitchen
StandfirstWhy are London's landlords charging you £1000 to sleep in their kitchen?
London’s housing crisis is nothing new. However, a recent viral Reddit post has highlighted the absurdity of landlords looking to make some extra cash.
Now deleted ad for a one-bedroom flat in Notting Hill (SpareRoom)
The advertisement, which was posted on SpareRoom, the UK’s biggest website for finding flatmates, pictures a bunkbed above a kitchen for over £1000 per calendar month. The redditor captioned the image “this has to be a joke of some kind”.
The ad has since been deleted, but listings for rooms and flats like this are not rare in London. One offered a sofa for £750 a month that would make Harry Potter’s cupboard under the stairs quite enviable.
Reddit
While the absurdity of the studio for rent may be comical, it shines light on how some landlords take advantage of people desperate to find a place to stay in London.
Ben Leonard, a political officer from Acorn Housing, revealed that the reasons for high rent and the lack of regulations in the private housing center are complex.
‘On a legal basis, the landlord is free to charge whatever rent they think somebody might be willing to pay’, he said, ‘so it’s a question of why they feel confident doing it’.
“It would be politically controversial for anyone really to run on a platform of reducing house prices” Ben says.
‘We’ve had successive governments of all major political parties, who have been committed to maintaining or increasing house prices, really, since the 80s and 90s’.
A man walks past placards advertising houses for sale and rent in London (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
‘Let’s see if the landlord managed to rent out that studio for £1000. I don’t know who’d pay that, to be honest, but perhaps somebody very desperate will.’
Asked how the Renter’s Rights Bill coming into effect in May would help improve the problem of apparently absurd room rentals, Ben was less than optimistic.
He says some people have criticised the bill for failing to address initial affordability or the standards of homes.
‘People are often so desperate that [landlords] can get away with it’
This photo shows housing in central London (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
The new legislation will focus on reducing rent increases and preventing no-fault or revenge evictions instead.
Unlike most European countries, including Scotland, England does not have rent control, allowing landlords to charge whatever rent price they see fit.
‘The primary sector, generally, is pretty unregulated, really, and has been more or less since Thatcher’.
This photo shows housing in central London (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
But there are some protections for tenants. This includes hazards like structural defects or damp and mould in your home under the Homes Act 2018, where tenants can take legal action against landlords if they breach regulations.
There are also laws that protect those living in the houses of multiple occupancy, where two or more households share basic amenities like a kitchen, bathroom and other living spaces.
Those have to meet certain requirements, says Ben, but “generally speaking, it’s not nearly as regulated as other sectors”.
A man walks past an estate agents window (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
In a statement SpareRoom tells City News:
“We have strict rules on the condition of rooms advertised on our platform and we remove ads that we don’t feel are suitable, whether that be due to size, layout, living conditions or safety concerns.
‘We may suspend a user while we make them aware their room is not suitable. If they repeatedly advertise unsafe properties, despite our warnings, then we permanently ban them from our site.
‘Ads that break our terms and conditions will either be picked up by our automated systems, or our human checks, and we also urge users to flag, immediately, any ads that don’t look right using the ‘report this ad’ button.”
