Couple mocked for bid to hire live-in babysitter who'll pay £400 for privilege
A family has sparked outrage after offering a cheap room to rent - with the major catch being the tenant having to look after their children for three hours every day.
The ad, shared on SpareRoom, was slammed by room hunters who had plenty to say about the 'criminal' request. At just £400 a month, the room, in Clapham, south London, is undeniably a bargain - but would require renters to give up several hours of their free time.
A short description, accompanied by an image of a small, colourless room reads: "Hi we are an Italian family looking for a student/au pair preferred Monday to Friday but we can consider full week for the right person (respectful of privacy)."
"We are looking for someone who can help regularly with babysitting three hours per day 3-6pm. Our children are very sweet but very young 1-3 years old so we are looking for a calm and organised person/no party. You will have a 9sqm room and a bathroom mostly for yourself. The family uses another bathroom."
They also said the person could only stay from Monday to Friday and had to take care of the children from 3pm to 6pm each day. Instead of getting paid for looking after the kids, which should be more than £1,000 a month, the person would have to pay the family.
London flat for rent for £1,400 a month with bed tucked away in kitchen cupboard
When the ad began getting criticism, it was put up again for £200 more without details about childcare.
The ad recieved lots of criticism by shocked room hunters (SpareRoom)The room is up for grabs from August, with a minimum stay of one year and a maximum of two years. A map on SpareRoom appears to show the property is on Honeybrook Road, where a four-bed house usually costs over £1m. It's not uncommon for big families to want a live-in nanny, but most would offer free accommodation or a wage.
One shocked person who shared the ad wrote: "Pay us rent to babysit our kids! Room available Monday to Friday only!"
The ad then popped up again in a different style, without the childcare part and the price bumped up to £600 a month. The person who noticed it said: "Okay okay you don't have to babysit...but now you pay £600pcm (and STILL have to find alternative weekend accommodation)".
"Yep, Carla, the lady who wanted someone to pay for the 'privilege' of looking after her kids, has put the room back up. She obviously thought the £200 difference was a 'wage'. This, somehow, is worse (and I bet you'll be left with the little ones anyway...)".
Hundreds of people on Reddit criticised the ad. One said: "It's criminal how much care work, an essential industry, is devalued by people like this. Wouldn't ask someone to pay them rent for the joy of doing any other job. Carers of all kinds have so much duty and it's treated like nothing important."
Another added: "Pay to babysit, but they don't need a sitter on the weekends...until they do. Then you can pay them some more for those days."
Taking up the small room rental would require renters to give up several hours of their free time (SpareRoom)One person fumed: "That's not how au pair program works. Host family boards their au pair (as in provides a free place to live and at least 3 meals a day) and pays a small allowance. I bet that family are not registered au pair hosts and just use the word because they've heard it somewhere and liked how fancy it sounds."
One added: "I live in this area. The houses and flats are well-priced. (Our detached 3BR is £2400) So basically not only are they getting 20% of their rent subsidised, they also get free childcare lol."
Others number crunched to show what a terrible deal it was: "If we run some numbers - say £13 an hour for this kind of work, minimum of 21 hours a week (and you know that work time will bleed outside of those hours) with four weeks in a month that would give £1,092. So the rent paid two ways is £1,492 for a tiny room in a busy house."
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However others said that, although awful, it could be a useful deal for someone. One optimistic poster added: "For London in that area, this isn't even a horrible deal...which yes, in itself is awful. If someone is trying to relocate to London, but hasn't yet found work, this could legitimately be a good setup until you find your footing."
"Suck it up for a while, get a London wage & save for the next place...which you'll likely be sharing with randoms anyway. I am not in support of this ludicrous situation...but £400 pcm in London inclusive, no deposit or min term...in Clapham.... well. Rent for a 1 bed there would be around £2k pcm (excluding council tax, deposit, utils). Realistically £3k per month."
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