Just when you thought renting in London couldn’t get any worse, something so ridiculous, so audacious, so silly comes along to give you a good old reality check, reminding you that renting in the capital is actual hell.
The latest scandal in the London rental market comes in the form of two cats, who are renting out a living room in a one-bed flat, apparently.
A SpareRoom listing by ‘a couple of Siamese cats’ has gone viral for subletting a single bed in the living room of their one-bedroom flat for £1,000 a month.
‘We are a couple of Siamese cats that live in a large one-bedroom ground floor flat with a private garden on a quiet street in a great location with great access,’ writes the listing. ‘We live with a lovely couple of humans who take care of us, they think the place is theirs, but it’s ours.’
The living room in the flat is being rented on a ‘room-only basis’, and it appears you’ll have to look after the cats too. One lucky renter will get access to a single bed, sofa, high ceilings and ‘even a desk’. Then there’s access to a shared kitchen, bathroom and garden.
According to the two cats, the humans in the space are rarely there. The only stipulation in the eccentric listing is that the renter must be an animal-lover.
While the flat owners probably think they are making a harmless, albeit very twee, joke, the listing of a living room in a one-bed for £1,000 only highlights how expensive rooms are in the capital now. Over the past 12 months, two London boroughs saw the highest rent hikes in the UK. And by the end of 2024, the average rent in London is set to rise to an eye-watering £2,700 a month. Bleak times.
ICYMI: Sewage flowed into London’s waterways for a whopping 12,000 hours last year.
Plus: This beloved south London lido has reopened after a £4 million makeover.
Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Time Out London newsletter for the best of the city, straight to your inbox.
