A couple in South London faced mockery by offering a low-cost room for rent, but with the condition that the tenant must look after their children for three hours daily. The advertisement, posted on SpareRoom, received criticism from those searching for rooms, who strongly condemned the request as a criminal act.
Priced at just £400 (Rs 35,000) a month, the room, located in Clapham, south London, is undoubtedly a steal but would demand tenants to sacrifice several hours of their leisure time.
The tenant was required to be available for three hours of babysitting daily, from 3 pm to 6 pm, Monday to Friday. However, the room won’t be available on weekends, indicating that the babysitter would only be permitted to stay in the room to care for the children.
The advertisement, which was removed after it gained widespread attention, stated: “Hi, we are an Italian family seeking a student/au pair, preferably Monday to Friday, but we may consider the full week for the right person (respectful of privacy).”
“We are seeking someone who can assist regularly with babysitting for 3 hours per day from 3-6 pm. Our children, aged 1-3 years, are very sweet but require someone calm, clean, and organized—no partying. You will have a 9sqm room and mostly private access to a bathroom, as the family uses another bedroom. The listing was removed by Rightmove, but we have re-uploaded it on Spare Room with an updated description.”
The rent has been increased to £600 (Rs 53,000) per month, later dropped to £500 (Rs 44,000) per month, and there is no mention of babysitting in the new ad.
“Hi, we are renting out a room in our family house. You will have a double room and bathroom, with shared access to the living room and kitchen. We are seeking someone who is very clean, organised and respectful”, the new ad says.
The old advertisement sparked outrage online, with one individual expressing anger, “It’s criminal how much care work, an essential industry, is devalued by people like this.”
Asking someone to pay rent for the privilege of doing any other job wouldn’t be considered acceptable. After the rental was relisted at a higher price with no babysitting requirement, one social media user commented, “She saw the £200 (Rs 17,000) difference as her ‘wage’. This somehow feels even worse (and I bet you’ll still end up looking after the little ones anyway…).”
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